Learning Self-Restraint
by SWFicWriters
Summary: Sequel to 'Boring Diplomacy'. Having contracted a deadly virus during their last mission on Borleias, Eeth is making a recovery, albeit not as fast as he would like. He'll try to cope and be patient with the healers' demands – and Raven will do her best to make sure that he does. Warning: This story contains spanking scenes of a non-sexual, disciplinary nature and coarse language.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi to all who have followed us and to any new faces! We're glad you found us and hope that you enjoy this as much as we have loved creating it.

Our stories originated as online role-playing and are situated in our alternative Star Wars universe – well, mainly the universe of Episode One, pretending that the tragedy of the Great Jedi Purge never happened. Ahem. There are approximately twenty-five stories pre-written in this series, which focuses on Master Eeth Koth and his padawan learner Raven Trebeck. Although each story can stand alone, it might be a better reading experience to start from the beginning with "Of Padawans Fake and True".

'Learning Self-Restraint', the sequel to 'Boring Diplomacy', is set three weeks after Eeth and Raven's return from the Hyperspace Communications Frequencies Conference on Borleias where both Eeth and Raven were deliberately infected with a virus. Eeth was hit with a severe, life-threatening mutant variant of the virus and was fighting for his life. He has since made sufficient progress to be allowed to return home, provided he takes it easy. Eeth is not very good at taking it easy, but he'll try to cope with the healers' demands – and Raven will try to make sure he does!

As everyone who has read and followed our stories ought to know by now, authority and discipline, including corporal punishment, are central themes. To any newcomers, see the aforementioned statement and take it as your only warning. We don't post content warnings at the beginning of each chapter for this. Also, we realise that our master characters, especially Eeth, will at times come across as harsh. However, please keep in mind that this is a fictional universe in which teenagers with extraordinary, potentially lethal abilities are raised to do an incredibly hard, dangerous and responsible job. Their masters feel an obligation to keep them in line in order to protect them and others by various types of discipline, including corporal punishment, i.e., spanking with the hand and different implements. And sometimes, they will need to dispense with the cuddling and tell their charges to do their duty. These are teenagers, after all, not small children. There will always be times to offer comfort and moments of closeness between master and padawan, but they might sometimes have to wait. Plus, masters might have their own issues … which is certainly true for Eeth. His journey with Raven is a learning experience for him as much as for his padawan.

Fortunately for our padawans, our master characters have near-magical healing abilities at their disposal, allowing us to indulge our preference for strict discipline. All of our stories are well-thought-out and contain in-depth character development and progression of the storyline.

If you like our stories (or if you don't like them for reasons other than those of which you have been warned), let us know in a review; we love to hear what you guys think. Okay, let's get this show on the road. Enjoy.

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"Alright, you're good to go," said Master Healer Sopan after having checked her diagnostic scanner carefully one last time. "Report to us tomorrow morning and every second day after that. No workouts and no Force work for at least two weeks, until we give you permission. In fact, no work of any kind for the next two weeks! You will feel tired frequently at first. Take a nap whenever you do. Don't try to ignore your fatigue."

Eeth scowled. He had not taken naps since creche… well, no. As a matter of fact, he had not even taken naps in the junior creche since he had already been four when he had been brought to the Temple and had considered himself far too old for them. However, despite his displeasure with his instructions, he nodded.

"I will not," he said curtly. "Thank you, Healer Sopan. May I leave, then?"

"You may," said Healer Sopan. "Knight Lakhri, Raven, you look after him and see to it that he takes things easy."

Raven nodded her silent agreement and Lakhri grinned. "Taking things easy is one of the few things Eeth is not at all good at," he commented, winking at his former master. "Don't worry. We will take good care of him."

"That will not be necessary," said Eeth with dignity, rising from his bed a lot more slowly than he would have liked. But he had had to learn that rising fast was simply not a good idea in his current condition. "I will obey the healers' orders, of course."

He smiled at Raven who had been standing next to his bed and put a hand onto her shoulder. "Let us go home, then," he said.

"Slowly," Raven tacked on the end of Eeth's comment. She knew it wasn't going to be easy for Eeth to accept their help despite what the healers had ordered, so she simply planned to do her best.

The walk back to their quarters was indeed slow. In fact, it was as slow as she had ever recalled Eeth moving, but it gave her time to reflect on the past few weeks. Eeth's stint in the healers had been lengthy, during which time Raven had been goaded into a fight with Rayan. Yeah, to say that the consequences for that had been dire was a gross understatement. Thankfully, and due to stellar behaviour on her part, Eeth had relented and returned her lightsaber after one week, something for which she was truly grateful since enduring the sea of disapproval each time she left their quarters had been trying.

When they reached their quarters, Raven raced ahead and palmed open the door. "Home!" she announced, hopping her way into their common room. She truly was pleased to have Eeth back, and it showed in the way she danced into his bathroom to make sure he had a clean towel and that his bed was pulled up. It was not that she doubted Lakhri would fail to do so, but still, Raven wanted to be useful.

Eeth found himself unable to share her exhilaration for the simple fact that, even after having done no more than walk from the healers' wing to his quarters, he felt exhausted. Trying to appear as unfazed as he possibly could, he hung up his robe, pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Want some tea?" asked Lakhri, moving towards the kitchen.

"I will make us some," replied Eeth. "If you could let me pull off my boots first?"

Lakhri snorted. "Yes, you pull off your boots, and I make us some tea," he said. "You had better get used to us doing the work because we're not going to let you relapse. Your sickness was more than horrifying enough for our liking."

He shot Eeth a look that was as stern as any he had ever dared to point at his former master and marched into the kitchen. Eeth glared at his back, but made no move to get up. He would never have admitted it, but sitting felt good right now.

Raven squatted down and started unbuckling Eeth's boot for him, as Lakhri had done for her. She had appreciated it at the time. In fact, it had been a relief not to have to move again.

"I can do this myself, thank you," said Eeth and bent forward to reach down. It made his head spin and he could not quite prevent a small groan from escaping.

"Maybe, but you're gonna let me do it, right?" replied Raven. It hadn't really been a question; she continued messing with the buckles and started pulling off his boot all the same.

Eeth did not reply to that because the truth was that he was quite happy about not having to do this himself but was certainly not going to admit that pulling off his boots was exhausting to him. He hated being waited on! Exhaustion won over, though; he leaned back, closed his eyes briefly and let Raven do her job.

Raven was glad to be able to help him for a change. She removed both his boots and, despite wanting to, resisted the urge to toss them as Lakhri did; Eeth liked things to be tidy, after all. Thus, she placed them by the door, pulled off her own and put them alongside. She tossed a load of laundry, most of which was hers and Lakhri's, in to wash and then she made her way back into the common room where Eeth still sat motionless, looking even more tired than before if such a thing were possible. Raven sat on the floor and rolled onto her tummy, her palms supporting her chin just as Lakhri entered carrying a pot of tea and some cups.

Raven knew that Eeth would want her to stick to her normal routine, that he'd want no special treatment or coddling from anyone. Still, she would much prefer running after him to doing homework or chores.

Lakhri, however, would have none of it. "Raven, grab a cup of tea and get your maths homework," he said. "Do it lying on the floor if you like, but do it. We both know how long this stuff takes you. Eeth, you look as if you'd be better off on the couch."

He helped Eeth out of his cloak and hung it on the hook by their door. He couldn't have cared less himself, but knew how particular Eeth was about such things! When he returned, Raven was gone and Eeth was still sitting on his chair. Lakhri pointed his finger at the couch.

"Couch or bed," he said. "These are your choices."

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "Oh?" he said. "Do I get any say in this?"

"Not when you look as white as you do right now," said Lakhri. "Be reasonable. That's what you always aspire to, isn't it?"

Eeth had to smile at that. "Alright," he conceded and moved over to the couch with some effort. He had to admit that lying down felt even better than sitting.

When Raven re-entered their common room, she found Eeth lying on their couch, sleeping, his cup of tea sat untouched on the coffee table, and Lakhri was seated in one of the two chairs, sipping from his cup. She lay on the floor, threw one leg up the wall and powered on her datapad; this was going to suck, but then, it had to be done.

An hour later, Raven still lay on the floor scratching away on her datapad with a stylus. She hated maths, really, really hated it. However, her personal opinion had never gotten her out of doing the work before and she doubted it was about to start now. She was on the final page of geometry revision, a particularly boring section on the Pythabian theorem to be precise, when their washing machine stopped. "I'll get it," she announced quietly because Eeth was still sleeping. "You want a refill while I'm up?" she asked Lakhri, gesturing towards the empty teacup at Lakhri's side.

"No, thanks," Lakhri said with a smile, rising from his chair. "And I'll do the laundry. You finish your maths. When you're done, we can go to the gym. If Eeth is awake by then, he could come and join us. I'm sure he'd love to give instructions."

Deflated, the padawan flopped back down and huffed. Still, she didn't complain and got back to work because another cycle of remedial maths was not going to happen. Firstly, Eeth might just disown her, and secondly, well, how embarrassing. No thank you; once had been more than enough.

Eeth woke up after half an hour, feeling a little stronger, and he readily agreed to accompany the two to the gym. He asked Lakhri to fill him in on what they had been doing in the past weeks. It had not been much since Raven herself had been recovering from her illness; that and the fact that Eeth had taken her saber away for a week. However, during the past few days, Lakhri had started to revise the last kata Raven had worked on with Eeth before their mission, and that was what he took up again now.

Eeth sat on a bench and observed them. Raven was a natural with a saber but she was still learning and some of her moves lacked precision. He had to fight the urge to stand up and correct Raven's grip on her saber.

"You need to grip your saber lower," he called, but his voice was not very strong yet and it went unheard as Lakhri had just started instructing Raven on precisely what Eeth had been meaning to tell her.

Eeth closed his eyes and leaned back, suppressing a sigh. He hated feeling useless. But it seemed as if he had no choice.

Lakhri glanced at Eeth and understood the problem immediately. This was not working out as he had thought it would. Deciding to change tactics, he said: "Let's do some freestyle sparring. Eeth can give you advice. If you manage to score three hits, I'll order some Careenian food for us tonight."

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "You mean, if she manages to score three hits, you will reward yourself with your favourite food? Very well. Raven, if you manage to score five, you get to choose the type of food and the order will be on me."

Raven smirked; she did like Lakhri's style. "Okay, but –" She paused, twirling her saber a few times and turning to face Eeth. "How am I supposed to score five? He's impossible to catch," she told him. Eeth had always set the bar high when it came to her training, so this wasn't exactly unexpected. Still, catching Lakhri five times at all, let alone having to win a point to boot, was a feat in and of itself.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "You are supposed to heed my advice, of course," he said. "Be mindful of the Force, and of our bond. I will guide you. If you follow that guidance and put in a real effort, you will stand a fair chance."

"A fair chance? But–" She looked from Eeth's steadfast expression to Lakhri, who in her opinion was uncatchable, then back again. Her shoulders slumped. She was defeated; this wasn't an argument she was going to win. Huffing, the padawan closed her eyes. Eeth's presence stood out like a beacon and she followed the well-worn path that connected them through the Force, to the place where their connection merged.

The first five minutes they accomplished little. Raven was exceptional with her lightsaber; she had been in Eeth's advanced lightsaber class, after all. The thing was that she wasn't used to relying on him to this degree. Well, if she was going to have any chance at catching Lakhri and winning her choice of dinner, she was going to have to concentrate and make a real effort, something she was certain her master knew. It was another few minutes before the first point was scored, and then five more before the second. By the time Raven had scored three, she was beginning to tire. Still, she was anything if not tenacious when it came to her physical training, and she continued after pausing just long enough to swipe at her forehead with a sleeve.

Eeth was proud of his padawan. He was also starting to tire, again!, which was immensely annoying. Staying focussed on the fight, connecting with his padawan through their bond and calling out the occasional bit of verbal advice should not have required an effort, but it did. Nevertheless, he could not very well deny his padawan the chance to try scoring five hits now, so he decided to keep going for as long as she would.

Lakhri, however, was keeping an eye on Eeth and noticed that he looked exhausted. When Raven had managed to score her fourth hit (which Lakhri had not made a maximum effort to prevent, if he was being honest with himself), he called the fight to a stop.

"You sure you will make it home if we continue this?" he asked Eeth. "I don't particularly want to have to bring you home on a stretcher, and I assume neither do you."

Eeth clenched his jaw. Lakhri was right and Eeth hated to admit it but what was the point of refusing to do so? "You are right," he conceded. "I will need to go home if I want to make it on my own feet. Raven, do you want to continue without my help?"

Raven treated him to an accusatory frown. "No, I want to make sure you make it back to our quarters without collapsing," the padawan replied, her tone conveying that she wasn't altogether pleased that he had pushed himself so hard.

"Alright, then," said Eeth wearily, rising from the bench with considerable effort. "You two, take a shower. I will start heading home. At my current pace, you will probably catch up with me before I reach my quarters."

Lakhri's frown was now matching Raven's. "No, we're coming with you," he said. "We can take a shower later. Come on, let's go." He was definitely not going to leave Eeth to his own devices. Among other things, he did not feel like explaining to Healer Sopan why Eeth had collapsed in the corridor and nobody had been there to help!

Raven tended to agree with Lakhri, and after gathering her things, she followed them from the training room. Of course, she had not forgotten about making that final point, it was now just a matter of timing. So it was that as the turbolift opened, and Eeth had stepped well out of the way, Raven launched herself at Lakhri, intending to wrap herself around him and, well, sit on him or something. Nevertheless, he was going down. Why? Um, well, because it was the only way she'd get that point, not that it would count and not that she particularly cared. Not really; she just wanted to try catching him out and was feeling playful. Besides, it was a totally random attack, in a totally random place. That had to count for something, right?

Unfortunately for Raven, taking Lakhri off guard was not that easy. It ended up with her sprawled on the floor and Lakhri grinning down at her.

"C'mon," he said, reaching out a hand to help her up. "You really did well. I'll let you pick anyway. I can have Careenian food any old day, after all. What would you like?"

Raven stared up at him, a mock indignant expression on her face. Where had she gone wrong? It had been the perfect place, perfect timing, perfect execution! Then she was on the floor. She huffed and blew a strand of fringe from her face. "One day I'll get you," she told him, accepting his hand up. Raven wasn't at all annoyed, not even a little, so the expression did not last longer than it took for her to announce her choice in dinner. "Alderaanian. It's not too smelly and still has a lot of taste." Raven was mostly thinking of Eeth here.

"Alright," said Lakhri, stepping into the turbolift where Eeth was leaning against the back wall, watching the two with a half-indulgent, half-impatient impression on his pale, drawn face.

"You did well, padawan," Eeth said quietly when Raven had entered and the lift took off.

"Thanks," Raven said, managing to hide the grin on her face by pretending to redo her hair. Eeth wasn't the sort of master to shower her each and every achievement in praise, so when it was received it was appreciated all the more.

"Admit it, you enjoy bullying me," said Eeth to Lakhri as they made their way to their quarters at the fastest pace that Eeth was capable of right now, which he found annoyingly slow.

"What?" Lakhri asked in surprise. "I'm not bullying you, I'm taking care of your health."

"And yet, you enjoy ordering me around," Eeth stated.

Lakhri grinned. "Yes, I do," he said cheerfully. "Consider it payback for the umpteen gazillion times that _you_'ve ordered _me_ around. Besides, I only give orders that would get the full support of all the healers in the Temple if things were put to a vote."

"I know," Eeth said begrudgingly. "That is the only reason I am following them. If you want to order people around, get yourself a padawan."

Lakhri's grin broadened. "If the Force leads the right person to me, I daresay I will," he replied.

"I hope it does, because I'd love it if you got a padawan. Imagine the fun we could have ganging up on you," quipped Raven as she palmed open their door and waited for them to catch up.

"You'll have to get a lot faster if you want to catch me," said Lakhri wryly, letting Eeth enter first and following him inside. "I'll order food, you look after Eeth. He looks as if he's about ready to collapse."

"I am not," said Eeth with dignity, yet he leaned against the wall to catch his breath.

"You are," said Raven, helping him over to the chair and out of his cloak. As before, the padawan pulled off his boots and put them by the door, and then sat to pull off her own. "You thirsty?" she asked Eeth, hopping up and sitting on the coffee table opposite him. He looked kinda pale, which wasn't really a good sign.

"Yes," said Eeth, "and I will need to take some medication before dinner, I think. Could you get me the bag the healers have given me?"

Nodding, Raven went to find the bag he was talking about. On the way back out, she stopped by their kitchen and filled a glass of water. Unsure what he had to take, but curious to know, Raven sat the glass of water where Eeth could easily reach it, and then she sat on their coffee table cross-legged and emptied the pills out to examine them.

"I am perfectly capable of managing my own medication without you spreading it all over the table," said Eeth severely. "Please put it all back into the bag and give it to me."

While he was waiting for Raven to comply, he closed his eyes and sagged back into his chair. He would never have admitted it, but he was looking forward to tomorrow morning when Raven was going to be in school and Lakhri teaching his own classes. That way, he might be able to just sleep without feeling embarrassed about it!

Raven looked up from the pill package she had been reading and frowned. "I'm only looking," she defended herself, yet given the state of him, she decided it probably wasn't a good idea to add to his woes right now. Eeth was positively ashen.

"No need," murmured Eeth but it had no bite to it. He simply wasn't up to it right now.

Dinner was not as lively as it usually was. Still, the silences were comfortable and the food good. "That was worth those four and a half points," said Raven. "Yes, I'm granting myself half a point for that final effort because, despite the fact that id didn't work, it was well thought out and executed."

"Bollocks," said Lakhri, grinning at her. "If you really want to surprise me, you need to stop projecting through the Force. And that one's going to take a while for you to master."

Raven huffed at hearing that. Why was it that everything worth doing took so freakin' long? She didn't get a chance to voice that, though, as Eeth spoke up, drawing her attention.

"And even then, it might not work on Lakhri," said Eeth who was struggling with his soup and was thankful to get a moment's reprieve. "His Force awareness is excellent."

"Ah, now you've made me blush," said Lakhri who was, indeed, blushing. "Eeth, you look like you're going to fall off your chair any moment now. Eat another bite of bread, another spoonful of soup, and then we'll help you go to bed."

"I do not need help with that," said Eeth automatically. "And it is still way too early."

"And yet, you look exhausted," said Lakhri. "Try without help if you must. But call us if you need to. Please."

Eeth sighed. "Alright," he said and finally braved his spoonful of soup.

Raven felt for Eeth, really she did! Still, he seemed to bear it with dignity despite his current condition. When he left the table and was out of earshot, she looked to Lakhri. "I can clean up out here if you want. If he needs help, it's probably going to be easier on him if you go as I don't think I can lift him if he falls." Well, technically Raven could use the Force, but levitating the poor man across the room was not going to help him retain the contents of his stomach.

"We can clean up together," said Lakhri. "I suppose he'll take quite some time to get changed into his pyjamas on his own. But he won't ask for assistance if he can help it and I can kind of see why he wouldn't."

When Eeth was finally in bed, half an hour later, Lakhri checked Raven's homework and granted her some time on the holo. Then he sent her off to bed, too, and left for his own quarters. Eeth had assured him that he and Raven would manage without Lakhri's help in the morning. Lakhri just hoped that was true. Just to make sure, he had asked Raven to call him if they needed him.

The following morning Raven woke to a familiar silhouette in her doorway. She smiled. Eeth's tall frame and horned head stood out clearly with the light behind him; she had missed him, and sent him as much across their bond. "I'm up, I'm up!" the girl groaned, if only to keep with tradition, and poured herself out of bed to get ready for classes.

Eeth had taken a shower and got dressed before he had woken Raven, as usual, although much to his discontent, that had made him feel about ready to go back to bed. He did not let this on, however. While Raven got ready for the day, he prepared some porridge and tea. Not the most sophisticated breakfast, but the most he could handle right now, and something he would be able to stomach, too.

Fifteen minutes later, a freshly-showered and cleanly dressed apprentice entered their common room, still doing her braid as she moved. "Master," she greeted him with a bow. "I'll make us some breakfast. What do you think you can stomach?" She looked around but did not see or sense Lakhri, so she assumed he must have gone home after she'd gone to bed.

"I have already prepared breakfast," replied Eeth. "I have not set the table yet, though. Unfortunately, I am not as fast as I would like to be."

Noticing her searching look, he added: "Lakhri moved back to his own quarters last night. He has his own duties to perform, after all. He will help out whenever we need him to, especially with your training; but we will need to adapt that to his schedule."

Ignoring his comment about Lakhri, Raven stuck her head around the corner to find a pot covered with a lid sitting on their cooker. Well, that explained why she hadn't smelt it. "Hey, you're supposed to be taking it easy, you could have at least allowed me to make breakfast for us," she told him in a tone that sounded rather reproving for her.

"I am already taking it a lot easier than I would like," Eeth replied severely. "That does not mean I cannot make tea or prepare porridge. Besides, you were still asleep. And I will be able to rest during the whole morning while you are at school. Now, might we perform our morning meditation or do you have any objections to that as well?"

Raven's frown deepened. "Getting up at the ass-crack of dawn to make breakfast isn't exactly taking it easy, and no, I don't think we should do our morning meditation. I think you should eat some breakfast and go back to sleep. I can take care of myself and clean up here," she told him. Raven knew she was pushing it, but well, she was concerned, and perhaps enjoying the opportunity to boss Eeth around just a little bit.

Eeth, however, was not prepared to let his padawan boss him around. He wanted to return to his usual routine as fast as possible, and he felt that Raven needed him to as well. What was more, he knew himself to be perfectly capable of heeding the healers' advice without her intervention. These thoughts showed in the glare he was now levelling at her.

"Padawan, you are not going to tell me what to do and what not to do," he said in a dangerously low tone of voice. "If you seriously think my illness is an excuse for you to get out of your morning meditation, think again. I am definitely not too weak to meditate, and even if I were, I would be able to find that out for myself. There is no need for you to organise my schedule."

He pointed at their meditation mats, the look on his face clearly telling her that if there was one more attempt at backtalk, his paddle was coming out. A paddle that he had resumed wearing in his belt as per this morning.

Squared stance and rigid posture? Check. Withering glare? Check. Deceptively calm and low tone of voice? Check! Yep, all the signs were there, right down to the furrowed brow. She opened her mouth to argue this; after all, she was meant to be looking after him, not the other way around! But then Raven thought better of it. Firstly, fighting him was only going to work against his recovery, and secondly… Well, she didn't want to find out if he was capable of busting her ass or not! She held his gaze for a long moment and then acquiesced. "Alright, then. But if you relapse, I'm totally telling the healers on you." It was about as much cheek as she dared give.

Eeth nodded curtly and knelt, beckoning for Raven to assume her usual spot opposite him.

Meditation had come hard to the fidgety padawan. She had trouble keeping still, was flighty and generally an energetic personality. It hadn't been until the Jedi Council needed her to access their training bond to ascertain Eeth's life status during a mission that she had managed to make serious progress in her mental discipline. In fact, her hard-won success during that time of crisis had been the event that had prompted Eeth to allow her to build a real lightsaber.

Nowadays Raven enjoyed most meditation. She knelt opposite and closed her eyes. It was clear that Eeth was tired, yet he didn't appear to be pushing himself too far. Raven thought that it felt as if he were riding the line, yet it was hard to tell as he could be shielding parts from her. When Eeth called their meditation to an end, Raven was reluctant to stop, her reasoning being that she wanted to help him heal. Okay, so at twelve, she wasn't going to be able to offer much. Still. She opened her eyes and gave him a questioning look. "You sure you're not going to fall in a heap if I go to classes? I could stay and make you tea all morning instead."

"You," said Eeth, "are going to classes. I hardly need you to watch me rest." He was certainly not going to let Raven miss a morning's worth of classes just because he was ill!

Raven wasn't exactly pleased with that answer, yet she did not argue with him and went to do her morning chores.

Keeping up with their ordinary morning schedule was demanding, Eeth had to admit to himself; but since he knew that he would have ample opportunity to lie down once Raven had left for school, he was not overly concerned. Besides, meditating with Raven had been helpful. He had got used to drawing on the Force whenever he felt the need as a very small child, living on the streets of Nar Shaddaa, and the habit had never left him. Feeling considerably strengthened after their morning meditation, he was well able to make it through breakfast and even to clear the table.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Eeth went to see the healers as per instruction a little before lunch. His progress was declared satisfactory; in fact, he thought he already needed a little less sleep than he had yesterday. Still, he allowed Lakhri to send him off to take a nap while Raven and Lakhri went to the gym to work on Force-enhanced running; in return, he helped Raven with her homework after that. By the time she had gone to bed, he felt about ready to collapse himself; but he was glad to have survived a fairly normal day without significant problems.

The following day went much the same, the only difference being that Raven got up early in an effort to make Eeth breakfast in bed. This failed spectacularly, though, as the bleary-eyed, sleep bedraggled apprentice practically fell over him on her way to his room. He was already up and in a deep healing trance.

That evening Raven was sent packing after dinner to study maths: the bane of her existence. Thanks to Lakhri, Eeth had relented on his edict to fill her every waking second with maths, mostly because Lakhri had run out of exercises he could set Raven, yet she still had a lot of maths to do. Yeah, it was nice having Lakhri around. He was the easy-going petunia in what could at times be considered an onion patch of adults in her life.

Lakhri stuck around long enough to help her with some of her maths, then Eeth took over when the knight had to leave to prepare for his own class the following day. For the first time, Eeth managed to stay awake for a little while longer after he had sent Raven to bed, which definitely counted as progress.

"You're feeling better," Raven said the following morning over breakfast. Eeth had been home for three days now and although he was still far from recovered, his colour was beginning to return.

"I am," Eeth affirmed. "I might not actually have to go back to bed once you have left for school. I will make use of the time to catch up on galactic events. Oh, and I have booked us the obstacle course for this afternoon. Lakhri will not be around since he has to teach a full-day mission preparation class for senior padawans, so we need to do something that I will be able to coach you through without physically exerting myself. Please come home right after lunch so you can put in some homework before we leave."

If he was referring to the obstacle course Raven was thinking of, it was one of her favourite gym activities! It was fraught with challenges, everything from crawling through mud pits to scaling Force-sensitive trees to obtain specific markers needed to progress to the next level. The mention of study, however, wasn't as well received. Still, she nodded her compliance. After being sent back to redo her braid, she left for the day's classes.

Unbeknownst to Raven, today was not going to be a typical day as classes went. Usually she met with her friends, they found a spot to sit and worked. Boring. Today, their maths and Basic teachers had decided to do things a little differently: their two classes were going to be combined. It wasn't a huge deal as there were only three kids in her remedial class, which Raven suspected played a part in why they'd decided to group them. Still, a double practical lesson where they would get to use the theories and skills they'd learned in real situations was music to her ears; anything that got her out of the classroom was cause for a mini celebration in her opinion.

"Wow, I never would have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes: a practical use for algebra outside of astrophysics," said Raven, garnering several nods from her small group as they made their way back to the classroom to write up their notes.

"Speaking of practical applications," Bindi, a pink Twi'lek who Raven had befriended thanks to Orion, said. "My master just got back from her mission and she bought me a new holo game. It's a learning game, of course, meant to help me with my Bothese. You're all welcome to come and play it with me if you like," she told the group.

"Count me in. I could use the help," said Fae'lin, a small changeling child who was also in Bindi's Bothese class.

Raven nodded; she was 'in' also. The only challenge now would be convincing Eeth to let her exchange their study session with this one. While everyone was making the relevant calls to gain permission, Raven punched in the code for Eeth's private comlink. She wasn't kept waiting long, and soon a small holographic image of a rather tired-looking Zabrak hovered above her palm.

"Master," she greeted him, inclining her head slightly. "Some friends are going to Bindi's to study. Can I go, too? I will be back in time for our gym session, promise."

Eeth considered this request. He tended to give Raven some leeway where her training and chores were concerned as these were rarely a problem, but the same could not be said for her academic classes, as was proven by the fact that she currently had to take remedial maths. He had his doubts as to the amount of studying Raven would get done when she met up with friends.

"Study what, and how?" he inquired.

"We're going to study language." Raven wasn't sure how to answer the 'how' so she didn't.

"What language?" asked Eeth, immediately catching on to the evasiveness.

He just had to ask that, thought Raven, and her face fell a little despite an effort to look unfazed. "Bothese. It's a new interactive holo game and it sounds like fun." Raven wasn't sure Eeth knew the meaning of the word, and the fact that Lakhri had made endless jokes to this effect reinforced her conviction.

"In that case," Eeth replied coolly, "you may have fun after having completed your duties. Studying Bothese is currently not among them. If you are interested, take the subject in the upcoming cycle. Right now, maths should be your prime concern. Please come home right after lunch just as I told you."

"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that. I've been doing nothing but maths for forever now. Can't you reconsider, just this once? Pleeease?"

"No," said Eeth stoically.

Raven huffed. That wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. Still, there wasn't exactly a lot she could say to counter such a deadpan, monosyllabic response. She glared holes in his hologram for a moment before nodding once, and ending the transmission. As far as Raven was concerned, she got far too little time to socialise and play as it was, and she spent the rest of their walk to the dining hall complaining about just that.

Lunch with her friends was just what Raven needed to blow off some steam. There was something cathartic about sitting with a bunch of your peers griping over what a slave driver each of their masters were. So it was that when Raven returned to their quarters after lunch, she was no longer annoyed at Eeth for not allowing her to go with the others. At least not totally.

"Good afternoon, padawan," said Eeth, emerging from his room and giving her a small smile. He had been waiting for her to come home because after a morning spent reading, mostly on the couch, and a lunch that he had ordered in from the dining hall, he was now, much to his disgust, in urgent need of a nap.

"Please start on your homework and your maths," he told Raven. "I need to rest for a while before we go to the obstacle course. I booked the room for half past four, so there is still plenty of time."

"Half past four," she repeated slowly, throwing a glance at her watch. That would give her two hours to study. Bleh! The truth was she'd rather eat bantha balls than spend the next two hours working on this. Well, perhaps not really but that was how she felt at the moment, especially when she knew most of her friends were at Bindi's having fun. Besides, it wasn't like she had much of a choice here. Or did she?


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Merry Christmas everyone if you celebrate it (and if not, happy holidays)! Wow, another year has passed us all by; they seem to be speeding up the older we get. The timing of this chapter could not have been better, so we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very safe and happy holiday season. We look forward to writing more in the new year and hope that you all continue to enjoy our stories.

Season's greetings from

Livia & Raven. X

* * *

As Eeth disappeared into his bedroom to rest, leaving Raven to do her homework, she slumped onto their common room floor, datapad from today's classes still in her pack. He'd denied her permission to study Bothese with Bindi and Fae'lin, which usually wouldn't have been such a big deal. Today, though, Bindi had announced that she was using a hologame to study and Raven had really wanted in on that. Okay, so she wasn't exactly taking Bothese, but still! Study was study if you asked her. Unfortunately, nobody ever did, which was part of the reason she was even contemplating sneaking out. She pulled out her datapad, powered it on and waited for the screen to light up, but her mind was on anything but the work. Sneaking out would be risky; disobeying her master always was. This wasn't the serious sort of disobedience, though; they weren't on a mission and this was just class stuff. Nobody would die. Also, this happened to be one of those rare cases in which there really was a very slim chance he would ever find out. After all, the medication he took after his meals reliably knocked him out for at least two hours. If Raven left, she would only go for a short time, just long enough to check it out, have a couple of turns, and then return to do her work.

Despite the best planning and circumstances, Raven was still wary of disobeying Eeth; the consequences should she be caught were suitably dire to make her so! Thus, the padawan continued to deliberate the pros and cons while making very little progress on her work. "Come on, you're a padawan now, be braver!" she scolded herself and worked up the courage to lightly probe at the outer edges of their training bond. It was not invasive, not at all, as they both did this often when communicating across their bond and checking each other's whereabouts. True to her assumption, Eeth was out for the count. He was in a very deep sleep, probably the combined result of a healing trance and his medication. It would take quite a lot to wake him from this, Raven knew.

It was now or never, his rest was not going to get any deeper than it was right now. Very quietly she got to her feet and slipped her pad into her pack. She didn't feel good about this, and it really was a war in her mind over whether or not this was a good idea. If Eeth caught her out disobeying him, it wasn't going to end well for her, but if he didn't, well, she could add it to the short list of misdemeanours that she had gotten away with. Finally – after another twenty minutes of agonising over it, all of which she concealed, Raven decided that it wasn't such a bad thing; it was just study. It wasn't like she was sneaking out to go to an amusement park or something. Besides, Bindi's quarters were conveniently close-by, and it would take her less than a few minutes to arrive. She could be there and back again well before Eeth woke.

The reaction she got from Bindi and her friends was expected; they too sensed her guilt and shared her fears that staying too long would be unwise. Given she had decided to only risk thirty minutes, the others let her play, forfeiting their turns so Raven could have a go before going back to her quarters. It was expected of Jedi children; they were raised to be selfless, although that did not mean they were immune to normal childhood mischief. In fact, the Temple's children found quite a bit of trouble as their minds were trained from the youngest age to think laterally, to find ways around obstacles to succeed in their tasks. Unfortunately not all of those tasks ran in line with what was best for them. This was one such time and Raven knew that.

Eeth, in the meanwhile, slept soundly. Under ordinary circumstances, he did not need an alarm clock, but since his medication was making him drowsy, he had set one to four o'clock. When it went off, he awoke abruptly, switched it off, took a drink of water from a glass beside his bed and stood up very slowly – much more slowly than he would have liked, but then, he had learned the hard way that rushing this was currently not a good idea. He took a moment to rearrange his clothing and hair and then emerged into the common room.

"How is your homework coming along?" he asked Raven who was busy with her datapad.

"Still going," replied Raven, nonchalant, and rolled onto her back giving a dramatic sigh. She had worked hard during the past hour, but was still making up for lost time. "Can we go now? I sooo need a break from this …" She stopped short of saying 'shit' as, although Eeth wasn't harsh when it came to her language, it would probably be frowned upon.

Eeth shook his head. He knew that his padawan hated studying, but it was simply a part of her duties that she was going to have to cope with.

"A quarter of an hour more," he said. "You need to finish your homework as well as your maths assignments. If you had made better progress, I might have granted you a free evening, but as it is, you might have to spend it on the assignments. I will help if necessary."

For now, he needed to give himself a shot of his medication and drink some tea to sustain him through the next few hours, so he resisted the urge to check her work. He would do so after dinner.

The expression on Raven's face was piteous, but thankfully he had his back to her and didn't see it. A whole evening off and she'd wasted it for thirty minutes of guilt-ridden 'fun' with her friends. She was sick of doing homework, yet again, there wasn't much of a choice. Thus, she flopped her head into her arm, groaned and kept at it.

When the fifteen minutes were up, Raven skidded her datapad aside with a little more force than was absolutely necessary, and went to change into her workout clothing before Eeth decided that she needed to do yet more classwork.

Eeth emerged from his room when Raven did. In contrast to her, he was not carrying a gym bag. There was no way he was going to be able to participate in any kind of workout. Sitting on a bench giving instructions was all he was up to.

"We are going to your favorite obstacle course," said Eeth. "Today, you will try to master it with an ignited lightsaber in hand."

"Yeah!" she whooped, jumping around a little. That was the course she had been hoping for!

The trip there was painfully slow, but the girl didn't care; Raven wanted Eeth to be careful with his health and so she adjusted to his speed despite her exuberance. When they arrived, the previous team was just finishing up. They bowed respectfully when they caught sight of Eeth and then hit the showers.

"I'm ready!" said Raven, drawing her saber and vaulting to the start point; this was just what she needed.

Eeth knew that, which was why he drove her hard this afternoon. The healers had completely cleared Raven for all forms of physical activity now that she had fully recovered. She was still not quite as fast and strong as she had been before her illness and her endurance had suffered slightly as well, but she was close to regaining her former degree of fitness. It was only after a full two hours of vigorous exercise, at the end of which Raven had finally managed to complete the whole course with her ignited saber, that Eeth sent her to take a shower.

"We can go to the dining hall for a quick dinner," he said. This was the first night he actually felt up to this.

Raven looked at him skeptically. "You sure you're feeling up to it?" she questioned. Truth be told, she hoped he was, as going back to their quarters meant going back to studying, and Raven had had enough of that over the past weeks to last her a lifetime.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "If I was not up to it, I would not suggest it," he replied. He did not allow Raven to dawdle on her dinner, though, knowing his padawan's tendency to procrastinate when she had to study. Thus, he pushed her to finish her dinner while he ate a bowl of soup and a slice of bread. He felt full after that and pocketed his piece of fruit for later.

"Now, show me your homework assignments and the work you did this afternoon," he said to Raven once they had returned to their quarters and he had plopped down on a chair. And he had really plopped down, as opposed to his usual fashion of sitting down in an unhurried, dignified manner!

Raven groaned at receiving this order. "Really? Like, the very second we walk in the door?" she complained, thinking that he ought to cut her some slack considering the amount of work she'd done lately.

Now Eeth was beginning to get suspicious. If Raven did not want him to see her work, there was probably a reason for that. Maybe she had done a shoddier job than she cared for him to see.

"And why not?" he inquired. "I hardly think it is going to get any better if it is left lying around. Bring it to me."

Raven could argue that, but it didn't look like it would do her any good. More likely it would just further annoy him. Sighing, she retrieved the datapad from where she had left it and held it out. "Here." She had a plan to explain the lack of progress if he noticed. Raven wasn't sure he would, though, as she had rushed through quite a large section in an effort to make the lack of work less obvious.

Eeth carefully looked over the assignments and the work that Raven had done and frowned. Unfortunately for Raven, he was already suspicious and therefore noticed that there was a rather large amount of gaps and mistakes in her work. If she had properly used the time during which he had been sleeping, she should have been able to do a much better job than this.

"Padawan, this is biology," he said, holding up her datapad. "It is not a subject that you have ever had any difficulties with. How is it that you did not manage to produce more than this in two hours' time?"

Okay, so if Raven lied, Eeth was probably going to be able to tell. She had yet to successfully lie to him. Besides trying had only made it worse. "I, um, well," she stuttered. Fuck, not a good start. She needed to pull herself together. "I might have been taking my time, and I studied other subjects for a while. Kinda mixing it up, you know?" There, not exactly a lie, but not entirely truthful either.

Eeth was not as dumb as to buy this. There was something that his padawan was trying hard not to tell him. His face darkening, he said sternly, "Who do you think you are fooling, padawan? Try that again, and make it truthful this time. I do not appreciate having to drag it out of you."

"It was truthful," she defended herself. However, the expression on his face had her reconsider leaving it at just that. She moved a little to the right, conveniently positioning the coffee table between them. It was then that a thought came to mind; perhaps he was too ill to punish her over this? It was possible as the healers had specifically stated that he wasn't to exert himself. Then again, he had a cupboardful of reasons why that logic wasn't going to fly. The longer Raven took to think, the deeper Eeth's frown became, until the padawan could see no other option. "I might have gone to Bindi's to study with the others for a little while, but it really was only a little while. Just half an hour. I needed a break. I swear I will get this finished. I have all night now, after all." Raven thought bringing up the fact that she was missing out on the padawans' lounge tonight because he was making her study might work in her favour.

"And what, precisely, did you study at Bindi's?" asked Eeth coldly. "I assume it was Bothese, rather than biology?"

"Yes. I was still studying, though." Raven thought it important to point that out.

"No, you were not," snapped Eeth, and he suddenly sounded remarkably like his old self. "You were hanging out with your friends to play a game involving a subject that you are currently not taking. What you did was blatantly disobedient. I told you to come home after lunch and study, and you used the first opportunity to violate your explicit instructions. That opportunity, incidentally, was created by the fact that I was ill and in need of rest. If you think you can start exploiting that fact, you are sorely mistaken."

He considered his options for a moment. He was still very weak, and besides, dealing out a full-fledged spanking would probably count as "physical exertion", which the healers had unambiguously ordered him to avoid. On the other hand, his padawan's notion that she could use his fatigue to her advantage had to be discouraged. The idea of asking Lakhri to take over briefly crossed his mind, but he felt an instinctive aversion against delegating this task to someone else. Lakhri had disciplined Raven before, but that had been for disobeying his own orders, when he had been in charge of her. Right now, it was Eeth who was in charge and Raven needed to learn that this had not changed in the slightest. There was nothing for it; he would just have to make up for his lack of physical strength through the use of an appropriate implement. And fortunately, he owned quite a number of those.

"Go to the cupboard and fetch me the large strap with the split ends," he told Raven. "Then bare your bottom and bend over the table."

That way, he would not have to exert himself restraining her over his lap, and he would have more swing, which would hopefully ensure the strap left a strong impression.

"Wait, master… Please be reasonable about this," Raven was panicking now as it seemed the shit was about to hit the fan. Force, had she really taken advantage of his illness? Well, kinda, yeah, although at the time she hadn't seen it quite like that; it had simply been a mechanism to getting what she wanted. "I didn't mean it like that. I swear. I just wanted a break. Can't you take that into consideration? Please?" Raven was outright begging now. Okay, so he hadn't ordered her to get his cane, but nor had he ever used that particular strap on her before. The only certainty was that it was going to hurt!

"No," said Eeth, stony-faced. "I fail to see how you could have believed even for one moment that your excursion might have been authorised, whether you 'just wanted a break' or not. You know what to expect for disobedience. Fetch the strap. Now."

She did, although owning those consequences was never easy. Swiping her hands down her trousers, Raven swallowed and inclined her head. She didn't argue further, not due to a lack of material — heck, Raven had that shit in spades — but more out of shock. How had it come to this? It was all moving too fast! Ten minutes ago, none of this had been happening. And now? Now she was walking back to the table, strap in hand!

"Master, please. It was just, just–" She paused, holding out the strap for Eeth to take when he extended his hand. "Just a small break." The latter was uttered quietly, and possibly more to herself as it became clear that nothing short of a full-scale Temple invasion was going to persuade Eeth from walloping her. And even then, would he wallop her first and then go fight off the bad guys? Raven thought that might just be plausible if the determined expression on his face was anything to go by.

Eeth accepted the strap and pointed at the table, the look on his face brooking no opposition.

Resigned, Raven pulled a chair from their dining room table, unbuckled her saber belt and trousers and then slid the lot to bunch at her knees. They wouldn't stay there for long once Eeth started swinging that strap around, she knew that, yet for some reason pushing them down to her ankles was just too much for her twelve-year-old pride. The last thing Raven wanted to do now was bend over as it flew in the face of her sense of self-preservation. Unfortunately, failing to obey Eeth for a second time today was also a violation of said sense. Thus, the padawan bolstered her courage, pulled up her tunic and gripped the edge of their table tightly with a hand, the other reaching back to cushion her hip bones from mashing into the table edge because, well, any small comfort was worth the effort at this point.

Eeth had not used this particular strap on Raven before, but he had used it on Lakhri a few times and knew that it did not need to be wielded with much force in order to leave an impression, which was the reason why he had chosen it. Raven's offence would probably not ordinarily have earned her an implement this harsh, but he was not in any state to deal out vigorous over-the-knee spankings. Since Raven had exploited that state, it was only fitting that she received this now, and he told her as much.

"Had you made the unwise decision to disobey me in order to swap homework against a bit of fun with your friends under normal circumstances," he said in a tight voice while taking up a position behind her, "you would have received a sound paddling over my knee and been grounded for a week. As it is, you will still be grounded but since you saw fit to exploit my illness, you will have to cope with whatever implement I can wield without much of an effort now."

With this, he raised the strap and brought it down onto the lower curve of Raven's bottom, careful not to overdo it as per the healers' orders, but with perfect aim.

"Ahhowww!" Raven hissed. Before she could brace herself for the next lick, it landed, turning the hiss into something a little more vocal. This was not at all pleasant; it stung like a leather paddle yet also had a deep thud to it like a belt. It was not that she had a lot of time to contemplate the similarities between Eeth's implements here, as he wasn't cutting her any slack. When the next couple landed with no less alacrity, Raven was having trouble keeping still. "Master, oww! I-I didn't mean to disobey! I swear I didn't!" Begging off never worked, yet for some reason this information rarely stopped Raven from trying at least a little. Besides, this really fucking hurt!

"Padawan, you acted against your explicit instructions," snapped Eeth. "Of course you meant it." He made his displeasure with her argument clear when he dealt out the next stroke, which was impressive. Well, not as impressive as he could have made it had he been in perfect health, but definitely more forceful than the previous ones.

Okay, so that lick had her complete and undivided attention. She rose onto her toes and twisted, a foot stomping in an effort to confuse the pain receptors. It didn't work; all it managed to do was send the bunch of clothing from her knees down to her ankles, further restricting her movement. "It was a stupid instruction," Raven gasped out, her eyes squinted shut tightly against the pain. Apparently, her brain had malfunctioned, or perhaps the swat had rattled something loose up there because had she just told him that his orders were stupid? Fuck. Attempting damage control, the padawan started babbling. "I mean, uh!" What exactly had she meant?! "I didn't mean _you _were stupid, just that–" Force, this was getting worse, and Raven had nothing.

Now she had done it: she had managed to seriously annoy Eeth, as opposed to him just being strict.

"You may safely leave it up to me to decide whether the instructions I give you are stupid," he said in an icy voice. "Your only concern should be obeying them. Your opinion of them is irrelevant. You deserve this punishment several times over and you will take it without further backtalk, unless you want me to add a few strokes with the cane to it."

Since Eeth was confident that Raven did not, in fact, want him to fetch his cane, he did not give her time to reply; he simply continued wielding the strap until her yelps turned into genuine cries, and she fell limp, no longer trying to twist from the swats or talk her way out of it. As usual, he was unperturbed by Raven's yowls. If anything, it showed him that the punishment was having the desired effect, which was to make her think twice or possibly three times before she next decided to run off from her studies against explicit orders.

Therefore, he dealt out a full two dozen strokes. He probably would have had difficulties doing this a couple of days ago, but right now, it truly and honestly was no more than he could handle. By the time he was done and hung the strap across the back of a chair, Raven was sobbing. She lay limply across the table, her knuckles white from gripping the edge. That had been truly memorable, not that Raven had expected any different for disobeying him. Still sobbing openly, the padawan slowly pushed herself up off the table, one hand immediately moving back to massage her backside while the other came up to hide her red and tear-streaked face.

Eeth found a handkerchief in his pocket, handed it to her and returned the strap to its place in the cupboard. Then he came back to the table and sat down. "Come here, padawan," he said softly.

Raven kicked off her trousers and reluctantly pulled up her underpants, as both had been effectively hobbling her. By now her bawling was reduced to a more subdued sniffling, yet she still held the back of her underpants away from her ass with a hand as she moved to comply with his instructions. Raven was not happy. Her face was a hot mess, and no matter how hard she tried, the occasional breath continued to hitch in her chest as she stood before Eeth, her gaze on his boots.

Eeth put his right arm on her shoulder, offering her a hug in a way that was half dignified, half awkward. Hugging did not come naturally to him, but he had learned that most children and adolescents needed some physical comfort on certain occasions, and the aftermath of a strapping tended to be among those.

Raven was still struggling with her composure. She curled into his side, allowing his arm to pull her into a hug. It was often hard for her to forgive and forget after punishment. Sure, she knew that it had been deserved, yet she still found it hard to accept after someone had caused her so much discomfort. And Raven was not comfortable right now, even though she was feeling content in Eeth's arms.

"You mad?" she whispered into his lapel when her sniffling had ceased. Of course she knew he wasn't; Eeth was rarely, if ever, 'mad' about anything. Still, it was her way of asking if he forgave her, if it was over now or if she had more coming. Raven fervently hoped it was, that the week's grounding was all, but experience had taught her that this wasn't always the case.

"No, I am not mad" Eeth said quietly. "That said, I will make sure you catch up on all the study you missed out on, and then some, during the period of your grounding. And needless to say, if there is any kind of repeat occurrence, you will be in a lot more trouble than you have been in today."

While he said that, he patted her back slightly in what he hoped was a comforting way.

Raven nodded into his shoulder. She wanted to argue that she had only missed half an hour of study time, but decided against it. Her ass already felt like the surface of Mustafar, and being grounded for a whole week was going to suck royally as it was. Arguing with him might just add to her misery.

Still pouting a little, she reluctantly pulled back from his hug and swiped the handkerchief under her nose. "Can I go to my room, please?" she asked, wanting a moment to sulk and lick her wounds, but mostly so she could sit on the cold tiles in her bathroom or stick her ass under the cold shower; either would be fine.

"For ten minutes," replied Eeth. "After that, you will do your homework properly and then I will study some maths with you."

He knew that Raven much preferred studying with Lakhri, since the man had much more of a sense of humour than Eeth did and generally was more easy-going; but Eeth was not a bad teacher himself, and good at explaining things. He could be very patient, too, but that patience vanished instantly if he sensed the slightest lack of effort in his student. This was something he was not tolerant with at all, and Raven knew it.

Ten minutes wasn't very long when you were using said time to nurse a wounded ass. There wasn't much Raven could do about it, though, and so she sat on her bathroom floor until her time was up and then dressed in a comfortable sleep shirt and underwear. She really was sick of classwork, and her expression said as much when she entered the common room exactly ten minutes later.

Eeth handed her the datapad containing her biology homework. "Do it properly this time," he said. "As well as I know you are capable of."

"Yes, master," said Raven, accepting the pad as if it were her death orders.

While she did her homework, she was a lot more mobile than usual thanks to a burning ass. She started off draped over the back of their couch, then slid down the front and had her legs over the backrest and eventually wound up on the floor, in various eye-watering positions. "Done," she finally said, flipping to her feet and stretching. Raven didn't actually mind biology, yet with all the work Eeth had assigned her, courtesy of her jaunt with remedial maths, the padawan was sick of it all.

Eeth held out his hand for her datapad. "You may start setting the table for dinner," he said. "After dinner, you will work on your maths assignments."

* * *

"No wait, but! Ug! Master! Pleeeease, you're killing me here," Raven told Eeth, dragging a hand down her face when he erased the datapad for the third time, bringing up yet another equation that she needed to solve. It was just a matter of practice, of course, or at least that was how it was put to her when she became disappointed in her slow progress. Oh, and then there was the state of her ass: it hurt, which was doing nothing for her concentration, despite the fact that Eeth had been lenient and allowed her to stand, and then had turned a blind eye when she returned from a toilet break carrying a pillow.

"The last time I gave in to some of your incessant whining about how practicing maths is supposedly 'killing you'," Eeth said frostily, "you managed to obtain a D- in your exam and earn yourself a remedial maths class. I will not make that mistake again. You are not stupid, nor are you incapable of grasping the concepts involved here and applying them correctly. The only thing you are lacking is motivation. If you need me to provide some, you need only say so."

Did she need motivation? Heck no, especially if it was of the sort she suspected he meant, but neither did she want to study maths any longer. Raven looked from Eeth to the datapad, and then to the door, silently begging the Force to send intervention, anything to save her from more maths. Alas, it was not to be. "For the record, I do not 'whine incessantly', I whine just enough to be cathartic. So there," she corrected him, her lip pulling into a crooked smile.

"The only thing that exceeds your capacity to whine about maths," Eeth replied, stony-faced, "is your capacity to procrastinate about it. If you have not completed five problems by bedtime, I will wake you an hour earlier tomorrow morning so you can finish them before breakfast."

The corner of Raven's lip fell, and her crooked smile was replaced with a wary expression. If there was one thing she wanted less than doing this now, it was prolonging the agony. So it was that the padawan kept at it, despite wishing she was doing just about anything else!

Some time later, the door chime sounded. Eeth rose from the couch to open the door and found himself looking down on his former padawan who was quite exhausted from a very long day of teaching. Still, he had wanted to check on Eeth.

"Hi, Eeth," said Lakhri. "Raven. Are you doing alright?"

"That depends." Raven gave Eeth a pointed look. "I'm being tortured. I'm going to report him to the Council. After all, slavery is against the laws of the Republic." She was joking, of course. Still, the padawan knelt on the cushion and pushed her datapad toward him so he could see the current equation, as if it explained and validated everything.

Lakhri stepped inside and looked from Raven, to the datapad she was holding out to him, to his rather weary-looking former master.

"So he's making you study maths," he said. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, but that's not torture. Rather, it's going to be a blessing in the long term, at least if it saves all of us another round of remedial maths."

Lakhri had done a lot of school work with Raven, and he knew what he was talking about. And in this particular instance, he happened to agree with Eeth.

Raven rolled her eyes. Lakhri was right, of course, and she hadn't really been serious about reporting Eeth to the Council; he was on the Council, they'd just take his side. Raven grinned at her thoughts.

Lakhri returned her grin and sat down on the couch. Eeth took a seat in an armchair opposite him. "You look tired," said Lakhri. "Do you want to lie down? I can take over here."

"Thank you," replied Eeth, "but you do look tired yourself. And Raven is almost finished. I do not want her to miss out on her evening meditation. Padawan, complete this now. It is nearly your bedtime."

"Hey, I don't need supervising, you know," said Raven, looking from Eeth to Lakhri, and then back again before sitting on her pillow to do as told.

Fifteen minutes later Raven had finally finished with her work. She stood from the table where she'd remained, given that Eeth and Lakhri were occupying their common room, and took the datapad out for Eeth to check.

"Thank you," said Eeth, accepting the datapad. "Could you get ready for evening meditation, please?" He could not quite prevent himself from sounding a little weary.

Raven perched herself on the arm of Eeth's chair, a leg tucked up beneath her. "I can meditate by myself, or with Lakhri if you don't trust me." The latter was said with a slight grin.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "I do trust you but I will nonetheless meditate with you," he said. "However, I need to take my evening medication first. Lakhri, could you do me a favour and check these while I do?" He held out the datapad to Lakhri and rose.

"Sure," said Lakhri. He dragged the datapad towards himself and studied it. "These are correct," he said, tossing it back to Raven. "Obviously, Eeth has successfully bullied you into mastering that type of problem."

He checked that Eeth was out of earshot and then turned back to Raven. "What's with the pillow?" he asked. "Was that part of the bullying? If it was, you must have _really _pushed him." From his experience, Eeth did not usually resort to dealing out full-fledged spankings over a reluctance to study unless that reluctance crossed the line of outright disobedience and disrespect. What was more, Lakhri would not have expected Eeth to have recovered to the extent where he would have been physically capable of making sitting uncomfortable for Raven; but then, the man had never let anything stand in the way of his intention to punish an unruly padawan!

"Nah, that was for thinking that I could pull one over on Eeth," Raven replied, standing so that the pillow was no longer necessary.

Lakhri looked at her incredulously. "How did you get that idea?" he asked. "I mean… I don't think it has ever worked before so why would you think it works now?"

"It's complicated." Raven shifted her weight, folded her arms and leant into the table. "Firstly, I didn't think I'd get caught. And, if we want to get technical about this, I ditched studying to, well, study! Just not the subject I was supposed to be working on." As Lakhri's expression became even more incredulous, Raven huffed, throwing up her hands. "I went to play a holo game instead of doing my homework and the extra maths Eeth assigned." She lifted her sleep shirt and pulled her underwear down to expose her left butt cheek. It was still decidedly pink and sported several faded welts. "He whaled my ass with that horrible thing with the split down the middle, you know?"

Lakhri grimaced. "Yeah, I know that thing alright," he said, remembering at least three different occasions on which it had made an appearance.

"I thought I was gonna die," the padawan confided, rubbing at her ass absentmindedly, and truth be told, at the time she had thought death might just have been preferable!

"I know," said Lakhri. "And he won't be able to provide any healing either unless he's intending to disobey the healers, which I'm sure he isn't. But if you're lucky, he'll give you some bacta before you go to sleep. Anyway, this just goes to show that you should never rely on Eeth to be indisposed to call you to task for any kind of mischief or rule-breaking. He could be on Hoth and you could still not be sure that he wouldn't find out. I can count the incidents of disobedience that I got away with during my entire padawanhood on one hand, I think."

"Such as?" asked Eeth pointedly, returning from his room with a tray of pills and a hypospray.

Raven let go of her ass, the elastic of her underwear snapping and causing a wince as she spun to face Eeth, face slightly red.

Lakhri grinned. "You _would _like to know that, wouldn't you? I'm afraid I'm… disinclined to tell you. I might tell Raven at some point, when you're not listening."

Eeth set the tray onto the table and went to the kitchen to fetch himself a glass of water. When he returned, he sat down and said, "Fair enough. Keep in mind, though, that if I discover any kind of mischief that was inspired by your tales, I will hold you responsible."

Lakhri rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right," he said. "As if I'd ever actively advise someone to get into trouble with you! How dumb do you think I am?"

Eeth smiled. "Not dumb at all," he said calmly and proceeded to take the first of his pills. "I will be with you in a moment," he told Raven. "Lakhri, would you like to meditate with us? You do not have to, though."

"I know I don't have to," said Lakhri. "But, yeah, I will. Why not?" He rose from his chair and stretched. "Come on, we can get started already," he said to Raven. "While Eeth takes his hypospray and all."

Raven dashed for her mat; meditating with both Eeth and Lakhri was somewhat of a treat, after all.

Eeth applied the hypospray to his upper arm and put it aside. His arm felt thin when compared to what it had been before their return from Borleias; he had lost a lot of muscle mass. Healer Sopan had told him that he would start on physiotherapy next week in order to slowly rebuild his strength and endurance, but that it would be a while yet before he would be handling a saber. He had accepted that statement with a nod, the impassive look on his face not betraying his dissatisfaction. For now, there was nothing he could do about his weakness, much as he despised it. And so he went to join Raven and Lakhri who had already started to meditate. When they were done, Eeth produced a very small tube of bacta from the pocket of his robe and handed it to Raven. "Get ready for bed," he said matter-of-factly.

Raven looked from the tiny tube of bacta Eeth had given her, to Lakhri and then back to Eeth again. It briefly crossed her mind to ask why he hadn't given it to her before they had meditated! But she kept her mouth shut and ran for her bedroom before Eeth decided that she was being ungrateful and took it off her.

"You might have been a bit more generous than that," Lakhri said reproachfully.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "It is not as if I caned her," he pointed out. "It will be sufficient to allow her to sleep."

"Probably," Lakhri agreed. "But only just."

"Exactly," said Eeth. "If I wanted her to go thinking she could exploit my weak state, lenience would be the way to go. It is not what I am aiming for, though."

Lakhri sighed. "Alright, alright. She did disobey you, I know. Is there anything I can do for you? If not, I'm turning in."

Eeth studied him for a moment. Then he said: "No, there is nothing more you can do for me. Thank you. For everything. You did not need to spend all that time on us."

Lakhri looked at him in surprise. "What else would I have done?" he asked. "You're welcome and all, but it's really no big deal. You _are_ my former master, after all."

"Yes, and if you held a grudge against me due to my … lack of empathy and excessive harshness, I would not blame you," Eeth replied quietly.

Lakhri was a bit taken aback. He had not been expecting this; he had had no idea that Eeth still held regrets over all that.

"Eeth," he said solemnly. "It's true, we had a rough time, especially during our first years. But you've never stopped trying to improve. And I admire you for that. I hold no grudge." Breaking the tension with a smile, he added: "And now stop worrying and go to bed. Healers' orders."

Eeth returned the smile. "Alright," he said, rising from his chair. He briefly put a hand on Lakhri's shoulder. "Thank you," he said again.

Lakhri impulsively hugged him. "I'm just glad you made it," he said with feeling. "Take care of yourself." He held the hug for a moment, then released Eeth and made for the door, waving his goodbye.

When Eeth entered Raven's room sometime later, she was lying on her tummy reading. A discarded tube of bacta that had been squeezed within an inch of its life then slit open and completely scraped clean, sat on her bedside table. "Good night, master. I hope you feel better tomorrow," she told him, not bothering to cover her backside, it wasn't like he'd never seen it before and she didn't want her sleep pants fusing to her ass overnight.

"Thank you," replied Eeth. He bent down, cupped his large hand around the back of her head affectionately, and then switched off the lights and left.

* * *

A week later, things were looking a lot better. Eeth had started his physiotherapy and was finally able to get through the day without the need to take naps. He had nearly resumed walking at his normal pace and generally felt much stronger – strong enough to attend Council sessions, at least the important ones, and to request an assignment that would not require much physical activity on his part.

On Friday, as he was making his way home from the Council session, he decided to resume cooking their lunch. He had usually ordered in since he had been released from the healers' wing but today he felt energetic enough to produce a meal himself. He still had time before Raven was due home; she was writing a biology test today, the last of a number of tests she had written this week. Eeth was less concerned with her biology results and more with her remedial maths test. The results might just be in when he came home. But first, he was going to do some grocery shopping and cook a stir-fry.

For Raven, the week of grounding had been as mundane as expected, that being incredibly boring and filled with little more than study and extra chores. Lakhri's visits were a welcome reprieve, though, as were their gym sessions and the several moving meditations that Eeth had allowed her to do this week. The latter were strictly out of necessity, of course; nothing at all to do with cutting her any slack, or so Eeth had implied.

"I'm glad that's over with," Raven said to Worik, a Mon Calamari boy she had met in Eeth's advanced saber class last year. They had met in the corridor after their test and, given that their quarters were located in the same spire, they were walking together.

Worik shrugged. "Tests and classes don't bother me, but it sure will be good to have a week's break and use it to go with my master to a few Senate sessions." Worik was apprentice to Councillor Adi Gallia, a female Tholothian senator. They were well-suited, as far as Raven was concerned. Worik was fascinated by diplomacy and the goings-on of the Galactic Republic. The girl practically shivered at the thought; she hated diplomacy and considered their last mission to Borleias enough politics to last her well into knighthood.

"You can keep that one. If I had my way, I'd be done with diplomacy. Oh, and we can ditch all the classes and exams while we're at it. Unfortunately for me, my master does not share my sentiments." Raven adopted a stern, Eeth-like expression. "Padawan, exams are important steps on your path to knighthood, as is a thorough training in diplomacy. Nobody said becoming a Jedi Knight was going to be easy," she mimicked Eeth while making air quotes.

Worik snorted. "You look ridiculous, just saying."

Raven smiled; she did enjoy their banter and actually wished that she had more time to spend with Worik. They had become good friends over the past year. "See you soon, unless I failed another exam in which case I might see you next decade as I'll be grounded until I'm knighted."

"A whole decade. Harsh. I'll come sneak you out if that happens. You can count on me," replied Worik, smiling broadly as Raven rolled her eyes and stepped inside the turbo lift.

Okay, so perhaps being grounded for an entire decade was a bit over the top, even for Eeth. Still, when Raven entered their quarters that afternoon it was not without a certain sense of trepidation. Had she put in enough effort to pass everything? Would Eeth send her to the AgriCorps if she failed again? Raven might make light of her lack of academic prowess to her friends, but the truth was she wanted to do well, to please Eeth and make him proud.


	3. Chapter 3

Having spent his early childhood in the slums of Nar Shaddaa, Eeth valued good, wholesome food. He also set great store by self-reliance. Due to these personality traits, he had made sure to acquire considerable cooking skills. His abilities had been enhanced by an undercover mission as a young knight during which he had worked as a cook in a Corellian restaurant. The fact that his illness had weakened him to an extent that made it impossible to cook meals for himself and Raven had irked him quite a bit. He was glad to finally be able to resume this part of his ordinary routine.

Today, he prepared Senchi stir-fried vegetables with nuts, a dish that he knew to be among Raven's favourites. Raven was not only a vegetarian, but also a rather fussy eater, which Eeth claimed to have little tolerance for… and yet he found himself quite frequently preparing the exact dishes that Raven enjoyed. She was too thin as it was!

"Padawan," he said as she entered their quarters, giving her a small smile and inclining his head in greeting. "Wash your hands and sit down. Lunch is ready. After lunch, we can have a look at the test results that have come in. I think everything but biology, which you took today, has been graded by now."

If the results were satisfactory, he might just take her out into the city during the weekend…

"Or we could not and say we did?" Raven suggested while washing her hands at their kitchen sink. Eeth had been riding her hard since she had started the remedial maths class, but what if she failed again? Maths really wasn't Raven's strong suit. Would Eeth think she were stupid? WAS she actually stupid if she failed? All these thoughts were tumbling around in her mind and feeding the insecurity that Rayan had planted over a year ago; maybe she really wasn't good enough to be Eeth's apprentice.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "These are simply some mid-term tests, meant to show you where you stand," he said. "I am confident that you did well, after all the studying I made you do. And if you did not, there will still be a lot of time to remedy that during and after this term break. Now sit down and eat."

Raven sat. She was far from placated, but there wasn't a lot she could do about this.

Lunch passed by as it usually did, namely, Raven chatted animatedly while Eeth looked as if he'd like to jump out the window. No, not really, although the girl sometimes imagined that the thought crossed his mind; they were so opposite in that respect. Given that she was doing her best to care for Eeth, Raven started cleaning up after their lunch before Eeth could stand and get the jump on her. This also had the bonus effect of delaying the test results. Both were worthy causes if you asked Raven.

Eeth, however, would never sit around idly while others worked if he could help it. He joined in, and they were done after ten minutes. Before Raven could sidle out, he firmly pointed her towards the comm unit where two messages were flashing, one from Master Vantachi and one from Raven's Basic teacher. There was also a message from the Council administration, but he left that for later.

"Well, padawan," he said, glancing at both messages briefly, "it appears you are capable of achieving a lot more than a D- in maths if you apply yourself. You have scored a B+ in maths and a B in Basic. These are your best results to date. Now maybe you have seen for yourself that it is worthwhile to make an effort with your studies."

"Maybe, but do I want to spend the rest of my life studying all the time? Nu. Besides, you helped a lot, too, and you don't always have that liberty. Thank you," said Raven, her words genuine. She was pretty happy with that B+ in maths.

"You are welcome," said Eeth. "And just for the record, you will spend as much time studying as you need to, not as much as you want to. When you do that, you will have no difficulty achieving satisfactory results, as you have just seen. Could you start washing the dishes? I need to read a personal message from the Council. I will be with you in a moment."

Raven raised her eyebrows at this, her curiosity piqued. A personal message from the Council? That could mean a lot of things, or it could mean nothing at all. Raven didn't say anything, though, and started washing the dishes as instructed. They did own a steriliser, yet Eeth felt that washing the dishes by hand was more thorough and left them cleaner. They only used the steriliser when they were pressed for time.

When Eeth returned some time later, Raven had finished washing and was putting things away.

"Can I go to the padawans' lounge tonight, pleeease? I've been grounded forever, is all."

"I am afraid you may not," said Eeth. "The Council secretary has just informed me that we will be in charge of a Senate committee on weapons taxation, starting tomorrow, and during your break I want you to assist me. Our briefing takes place tonight."

"Weapons taxation," she repeated slowly, unable to keep the dread from her tone or disappointed expression from her face; this was going to suck, it was going to suck all break long! Not that it would even be considered a 'break' now. "Yeah, that's just great…." she managed after a long pause, and unenthusiastically hung the dishcloth on the sink.

"Yes, your enthusiasm is almost tangible," Eeth remarked drily. He had not expected his padawan to be overjoyed at the news. But she needed to learn about politics, law and diplomacy if she ever wanted to become a Jedi, and whether she liked it or not, he was going to make sure that she did.

"Padawan, I know that this is not how you were hoping to spend your break," he told her. "But it is the best option we have to do something useful, since missions that involve any kind of action are out of the question for me right now. Besides, this is an area of expertise that you desperately need to develop. And needless to say, I expect you to give your full attention to the task and make your best effort. Now, I assume that you were not given homework today. We might go to the pools. The healers have actually given me permission to swim. For no more than half an hour, admittedly, but it will be a start."

"Well, personally I think that our best option would be to stay at the Temple." Raven didn't particularly care about what was best for her career at the moment. She had spent the last half cycle studying hard to make up for failing maths and then gotten herself grounded, a grounding from which she had only just been released! The prospect of spending her break sitting around in meetings for hours on end was not being received well at all. Not even the mention of visiting the pools could pull her from the slump this news had caused.

If there was one thing Eeth could not stand, it was self-pity. Well, that was not entirely true; there were a fair number of things that Eeth could not stand, such as rule-breaking, dishonesty and laziness; but self-pity most definitely ranked somewhere near the top of the list. And therefore, Raven's remark was rewarded with a solid swat. That swat was not exactly of the teeth-rattling type that would have been heard three floors further on; Eeth was not yet capable of such things, and even if he had been, Raven's remark would not have warranted that. But the swat was hard enough to get her attention.

"I do not want to hear complaints," he said sternly. "This is part of the career path that you have chosen. Nobody has ever claimed that it was designed for your entertainment. Any more whining, and you will spend the afternoon studying weapons taxation laws instead of going to the pools."

Raven looked at Eeth, the expression on her face a mixture of shock and self-pity. "Sorry, master," she said quietly as a hand moved to cup her right butt cheek. Okay, so that hadn't been the most painful swat but still, it had not been pleasant. "I'll go get ready, then," she told him whilst backing her way out of the kitchen; one could never be too careful.

As they made their way to the pools, Raven was still not her usual self, choosing to exact the maximum amount of sulking she thought she could get away with without being called on it.

Eeth tolerated Raven's sulking until they had reached the pools. When they were there and it had still not stopped, he said, "Padawan, I might just choose to grant you an hour on the waterslides while I recover from my swim. But only if you lose the pout and the brooding silence. If you want to continue sulking, I can have you swim back and forth for an hour and then go home. What is it to be?"

Alright, so Eeth had Raven over a barrel here. She frowned, and then her brow softened because what else could she do? It wasn't like Eeth was giving her much of a choice here. "I'll take the slides, but only if you come with me for one," she said, attempting to 'fake it until she made it'. One slide was less than she usually asked of him, but Eeth had been really sick and she did not want to add to his troubles, at least not on purpose.

"Very well," Eeth conceded. "After we have had a workout."

They swam for the exact half hour that he had been allowed. Then he taught Raven a new jump while sitting on the edge of the pool. Finally, he took her to the slides and, true to his word, went down the second tallest one with Raven once. He was quite exhausted after that and, for probably the first time in his life, rested on a deckchair while sending Raven to amuse herself on the slides with a couple of padawan friends she had met.

"Just tell me when you want us to leave," he said. "I do not have any other plans for this afternoon." He was rarely so indulgent; normally, they were on a strict schedule. But he was still recovering, and Raven needed a reward for her test results, he reasoned.

Raven blinked. Just tell him when she wanted to leave? Was this some kind of trick? She eyed him for a moment. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if he was feeling okay. Then she recalled that he actually wasn't, and nodded once. "I won't make it too long," she told him, and this time the smile was genuine.

Just over an hour later, two human prunes and one positively healthy-looking Nautolan approached Eeth's deck chair. He had his eyes closed but Raven knew that their presence had not gone unnoticed. Grinning, she shook her hair, sending droplets of cold water onto him. Spending time with some kids her age had helped with her sullen mood, and her sense of humour was making a comeback.

Eeth did not even flinch. Without opening his eyes, he asked: "Are you ready to leave, then, padawan?"

"Yes, master," Raven replied, as unperturbed by his lack of response as he was over her effort to draw one out of him. By now she knew it was pretty hard to catch him out, especially when it came to things like that.

After saying goodbye to her friends, the two made their way back to their quarters.

Raven showered, changed and exited her bathroom, plaiting her braid as she went. "So, what time is this briefing, then?" she asked, doing her best not to slump back into her previously sullen mood.

Eeth glanced at the chrono.

"Two hours from now," he said. "You may have one hour to yourself. After that, we will have dinner and go to the meeting. I have baked some bread while preparing lunch; we can eat that."

"Okay." She glanced at her wrist and looked back up at Eeth. She wanted to go to the lounge which Eeth had no problem with, so five minutes later, she was immersed in conversation with Orion and a few others. It had been a while since she'd seen him; they'd known each other since crèche, although he had been taken as a padawan a couple of months before she had.

Well before Raven was ready to leave, her wrist alarm warned her that it was time to start for home lest she be late. Eeth hated tardiness, and it usually resulted in some form of painful reminder on the importance of meeting responsibilities. Sighing, Raven rose from her spot on the floor where she had been playing holo checkers and reluctantly began the walk back to their quarters.

"Master," she greeted Eeth in the usual fashion, just as her watch began to buzz urgently. She shut it off, sighed again and took her cloak from the rack. "Would you buy it if I told you I felt feverish?"

Unsurprisingly, that went over like a lead balloon. Eeth did not even dignify it with a response. He merely gave her a _look_.

Disinclined to pursue her plight – it was not going to get her anywhere she wanted to go anyway – Raven followed Eeth without argument or further comment.

"Councillor Koth, Padawan Raven," a tall, muscular Epicanthix female greeted them as they entered the meeting room. "Let us begin…"

An hour later, Eeth and Raven left the meeting, Eeth looking stoic as usual and Raven positively pained. "So we have to get this committee of Senators to agree on fixed taxation for the acquisition, registration and ownership of weapons on Coruscant? Peachy," she summarised, her tone flat and expression not dissimilar. "How long do you think this is going to take?" Raven hoped it was not going to take up the entire break but wasn't holding her breath.

"I think it is going to be a lengthy process," replied Eeth. "You will not be able to assist me during all of it since your term break only lasts a week but until then, we will have meetings in the mornings nearly every day and spend much of the afternoon preparing them."

He looked positively pleased at the prospect. Being idle did not sit well with him.

If there was one word Raven did not want to hear in reference to their up and coming 'mission', it was 'lengthy'. In fact, anything that implied longevity was to be avoided at all costs. It was with this in mind that a thought occurred to her. "Do you really think you should take this on? I mean, you are still recovering and all." And Raven was genuinely asking because it sounded like it was going to draaaaag out as these things tended to do.

"Of course I am," said Eeth. "The healers explicitly permitted me to resume working as long as said work does not involve interplanetary travel or physical activity. I think a Senate committee meets those conditions. There is no need to worry about me."

Of course Raven was going to worry about him, and her expression said just that. Still, she continued to listen without interruption as he outlined what was, in Raven's opinion, the worst use of her class break possible. She wanted to cry. There was one saving grace: it could only last nine days; then whatever torment this turned out to be would be replaced with what she hoped would be a lesser evil.

Eeth was under no illusion as to the extent of his padawan's enthusiasm about their assignment, but she would simply have to cope. When she was a knight, nobody would go out of their way to spare her such missions either.

"Was there anything in Knight He'aritim's explanations about the current status of weapons taxation and its loopholes that you did not understand?" he asked Raven. "If there was, you should say it now because if you do not, I will expect you to have full knowledge of the subject matter. And make no mistake, I will want your input during our assignment. You will not just sit there and let it wash over you."

"Not that I'm aware of," came the safe response. Raven had listened, but unsurprisingly, had found the subject as boring as bat shit.

When they reached their quarters, Raven made directly for her room. After she had changed, the padawan exited her bedroom, brushing out her padawan's braid as she went. Okay, so Raven wasn't sulking per se, but neither was she looking forward to spending the rest of her free time going over their latest 'mission'.

Eeth, however, wanted to go through the list of committee members with his padawan, and he did not release her from this until he was confident that she knew their names by heart, at which point it was close to her bedtime. There was just enough time left for an evening meditation which he decided to perform out on their small balcony that offered a rather spectacular view of a large part of Coruscant.

* * *

The next morning, Eeth woke Raven at six as usual.

"Get dressed in your formal attire, padawan," he instructed her, completely ignoring her reluctance to leave her bed. "Morning meditation will be in fifteen minutes."

Raven had never been a morning person, and today it was made worse by the fact that she'd woken up to their first day of this hideous assignment.

Despite a distinct lack of enthusiasm, fifteen minutes later she emerged from her bathroom dressed in formal attire, brush in hand and looking none too pleased. Eeth was just beginning to make them breakfast when she had an idea. "So, what are the chances of you letting us eat breakfast on the way?" Raven asked, her tone hopeful. "I won't spill anything on my robes, promise," was tacked on just in case.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked. "Is there something wrong with the porridge I make?"

"No, master, 'course not. It's just something different to do. Besides, it might be fun. You do remember fun, right? That horrible three-lettered word?" Raven was trying to hide a smile, but the corner of her lip twitched in spite of her efforts.

Eeth momentarily looked as if he had bitten into a lemon. Then again, biting into a lemon might not have made him look this sour.

"Not today, padawan," he finally replied. "I have already started making breakfast. Maybe tomorrow. _Maybe_."

"Alright," sighed Raven, and started setting the table.

Breakfast was quiet as such things went. Raven wasn't her usual chatty self. Sure, she knew that as a Jedi a boring assignment was the least of her worries. Still, at twelve years old, she was struggling to keep this in perspective. When breakfast was finished, they cleaned up and left for the Temple's garage where Eeth had organised a speeder. Raven looked at him, hopeful.

Eeth returned her hopeful look with an impassive one of his own and pointed at the passenger seat. In his opinion, this was not a discussion they needed to have.

Raven sighed – she was doing that a lot today, it would seem – and then vaulted into the passenger side without argument. Instead, the padawan spent their trip there imagining what it would be like if she were piloting herself.

The Senate building was not far. Eeth parked in one of its many garages and, after having passed numerous security checkpoints, they made it to the East Wing that held most meeting rooms.

The committee they were heading was comprised of delegates from fifty planets, which was larger than Eeth liked; this tended to make it difficult to reach an agreement. Still, they hardly had a choice. They had been assigned to an auditorium-style meeting room with a raised desk for Eeth and Raven to sit behind. A stack of datapads had been laid out for them.

"You will take the minutes, padawan," said Eeth. As a matter of fact, all proceedings would be filmed and there would be an automatic transcript, but Raven did not need to know that; he wanted her to make an effort.

"Yay for me, the minutes…" thought Raven, unenthused as ever. Outwardly, however, she gave a nod and the expected "Yes, master" response. This was an assignment, after all, which meant that Eeth's tolerance for fussing went from endangered to positively extinct.

Okay, so it wasn't all boring. Some of the debates in which Eeth was required to break up their bickering were mildly amusing to Raven. However, when a particularly repetitive argument broke out for the fourth time between Senator's Von and Hastel, the padawan started to lose patience; it was almost time for lunch and here they were delaying everyone's escape! Annoyed, Raven slapped her palm on the table, drawing a mixture of expressions from the group of delegates. "For the Force's sake, Senator Von. Senator Hastel has already addressed that issue, like, three times already. Do we really have to go over it again?"

The delegates' heads unanimously swivelled towards Raven and incredulous stares were pointed at her from various sets of eyes and eyestalks. Eeth immediately took action. He sent Raven a strong surge of disapproval through their bond without showing any sign of this to the roomful of delegates.

"While my padawan is right in pointing out that the matter has repeatedly been addressed," he said calmly and authoritatively, "we will, of course, be happy to go over it again, Senator Von, until an understanding has been reached. I believe the main point of contention is the taxation of batons and comparable weapons which Senator Von is opposed to due to the many ceremonial uses these have on his planet. Is this correct?"

"Errr… yes," Senator Von agreed, the wind taken out of his sails.

"Well, you should have just said so" said Senator Hastel begrudgingly. "We can work in a clause for ceremonial weapons."

This law was going to have a lot of subclauses. Eeth was not happy with that, but it seemed to be the only way to reach an agreement.

It wasn't long after this that Eeth called the proceedings to a close for the day.

Raven followed him quietly, hoping to all hope that they'd get a chance to escape the lunch that was provided, but not liking her chances; she doubted Eeth would be in any mood to grant her favours if the disapproval she had sensed across their bond was anything to go by.

"Padawan." Eeth said quietly as he led the way to a reception room, "During the lunch reception, I will apologise to Senator Von for your rash remark, and you will add your own apology to this. Is that understood?"

"Apologise! No, you can't be serious." Okay, so her remark had been kinda rash, but it also happened to be true, which in Raven's opinion validated her decision.

"I am entirely serious," Eeth said sternly. "And you will comport yourself in a mature fashion, as people would expect from a Jedi padawan. Be glad I have nothing more in mind for you than this apology. If you continue to test me, that may easily change."

Raven chose not to respond to that. Instead, she scowled at the floor while trying to put a lid on her indignation. Apologise, honestly! Eeth was right, of course: it could be made worse. It would seem that these proceedings were going to test her in more ways than one.

Thankfully for Raven, by the time they reached the dining area, the expression on her face had softened a little; the short walk, not to mention Eeth's threat, had helped with this considerably. They spotted Senator Von taking a seat at the far end by some of his neighbouring planets' representatives, and Raven cringed. "Just sit. Pleeeease," she silently implored Eeth.

Ignoring her silent plea, Eeth directly led the way to Senator Von. The seating arrangement was informal: there was a number of low, round tables for species who preferred to sit on the floor, there were several tables with chairs and some bar tables for those who liked to stand. Droids were rolling around the room with trays of food suitable for all kinds of species. It was no problem at all to drag a chair towards Senator Von's table and sit down with his group, and that was what Eeth did.

"Senator," he said politely. "I sincerely hope that the results of the morning's proceedings are to your satisfaction. I apologise for my padawan's impulsiveness. She is still learning that in diplomacy, it is sometimes necessary to revise a matter several times if an agreement shall be reached that all parties are happy with, and that is certainly my intention."

Through their bond, he gave Raven a nudge.

Raven frowned at him, yet immediately dropped the frown upon noticing that his trademark glare was beginning to form. Resigned, the padawan lifted her gaze to meet the Senator's and delivered what she hoped would be an award-winning performance. "I'm sorry if I offended you, Sir. I didn't mean to. I'm still learning."

Senator Von slightly inclined his head in acknowledgement, but did not comment. Nor did Eeth expect him to; his species was not known for being particularly tolerant of such things.

"Well, we are all glad this issue is resolved," said a Senurian female in an obvious effort to lighten the mood and draw attention away from Raven. "The Hironians are really making this more difficult than it needs to be, what with all their procedural complaints."

"What would be your suggestion for the procedure, then?" Eeth asked smoothly. And with this, they were right in the middle of a debate about procedural rules for Senate committees.

The expression on Raven's face remained impassive. Inwardly, however, the girl was struggling. This was only the first day and already she was begging for some sort of galactic emergency that rendered them unable to continue with these negotiations. Anything would do, anything!

* * *

The next few days were no better. In fact, Raven would swear blind that the sessions were actually getting longer. Still, she endured. Eeth had little tolerance for whining so she was riding the line here, getting away with just enough to be cathartic without ticking him off. A ticked-off Eeth was to be avoided at all costs, after all.

Four days into an eight day 'sentence' – and Raven had come to think of this assignment as a sentence – they were seated at the obligatory lunch gathering that had followed each session so far. As if the Gods that be themselves deemed it time to cut Raven some slack, Senators finally began to peel off from the dining room. The padawan had come to recognise the signs: when most of them were gone, it would be proper for them to leave. She was still learning the finer points here because as far as Raven was concerned, there was nothing inappropriate, nothing at all, about running from the room the moment lunch was eaten. Unfortunately Eeth did not share her opinion, which was why it was almost two in the afternoon and they were still there making polite conversation.

"Are we there yet?" Raven whispered to Eeth as a few more people stood up and excused themselves. The question wasn't entirely serious, yet nor was it a joke, which was clear by the realistic tone and pained expression. Apparently tomorrow their session was going to be held in the afternoon which would be a welcome change. Raven was already planning some time with her friends. She had yet to clear this with Eeth, though.

"Not quite, padawan," Eeth said quietly, pointing his chin at a Tomarian Senator who obviously wanted to ask Raven a question. Many of the Senators did not see Raven as a child, but as a Jedi, which was something that she needed to get used to.

When they left the building half an hour later in their speeder, Eeth said: "We need to do some calculations this afternoon. The amendments that the committee has agreed upon so far might cost the Republic too much money. If that is so, we need to think of strategies to counteract this loss of tax revenue."

"Calculations and strategies. Joy," Raven replied flatly. She kicked at the floor with her boot and concentrated on glaring out the window at passing traffic; her patience for their mission today had been depleted.

"Tell me, padawan. Who do you think is paying for your upbringing?" asked Eeth in a voice of deceptive calm. He was quite fed up with his padawan's attitude.

"Taxpayers," she replied equally flatly, knowing where this was going but not caring. "That doesn't mean I have to like dealing with the Senate or spending every second of my time working on it," she continued, her sour mood spiralling; Raven hated this assignment.

"Whether you like it really has no bearing on this," said Eeth acerbically, "nor are you spending every minute of your time working on it. As far as I recall, we had a workout every single day after our return from the Senate, and you spent all your evenings in the padawan lounge. That can easily change if you continue the attitude, though."

Raven threw up her hands in irritation. "Force! Fine, please forgive me if I'm not thrilled about spending the night doing more of this crap. Maybe I had plans, maybe I'm sick of talking about this after having spent all day doing nothing but." Raven folded her arms and continued to glare at the traffic. Logically, she knew that this was her duty but that wasn't helping her current mood any more than Eeth downplaying her right to be displeased over this.

Unfortunately, her reply was not up to Eeth's standards. Raven knew perfectly well that there was only a very limited amount of petulance and whining that Eeth would tolerate, just as she knew that being tired of something was no excuse for anything and that it was not her place to "have plans" before having checked her schedule with her master.

"When I tell you to lose the attitude, I mean it," Eeth snapped. "The minute we arrive at the Temple, you will bend over the hood of the speeder for a reminder. Our freestyle sparring session is cancelled; you may spend an hour in the weights room instead. And tonight you are staying home. Any more whining and protesting, and I will add to this." He pulled the speeder downwards to a lower lane that led right towards the Temple's main speeder bay, hoping for his padawan's sake that she would manage to keep her mouth shut because he would have absolutely no qualms about increasing the punishment.

The expression on Raven's face went from petulant to outrage, then settled on horrified as Eeth spoke. Okay, so going to the weights room was not something Raven particularly despised; it was hard to find anything physical, at least at this stage of her apprenticeship, that she didn't enjoy. It was, however, right at the bottom of the list preferencewise, and Eeth knew that. But bending over the hood? Heck, no, not again. Raven wanted to scream but if she did that it would end up in a full-blown tantrum. Raven needed an outlet for her frustration; screaming, kicking and throwing a fit was one way to get that release, but there was another way that she knew of, another way of dealing with her emotions that did not ultimately end up adding to them. Closing her eyes, the padawan started to release her anger and frustration into the Force. This was not always successful. Sometimes Raven needed help, which Eeth would supply; other times she had chosen to take the easy route and indulged her emotions. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on whose perspective was being considered and at what time, Eeth had always been diligent with her training so she made the correct decision and was successful at quashing her temper this time.

By the time they reached the Temple, Raven was starting to seriously regret having mouthed off. She was still a little annoyed, but it was no longer blinding her to the consequences. As they flew into the main hangar Raven started talking in an effort to save her ass. "Okay, okay, you made your point. I'm sorry. I won't complain any more, I'll do the weights room and stay home all night, I promise. I don't need any reminders."

"When I tell you that you need a reminder," Eeth said coolly, steering the speeder towards its designated bay, "then you need a reminder. You will obey my orders unless you want to make this worse on yourself."

Squirming at his reply, the padawan fell silent. She remembered the last time she'd been a smart-ass during a speeder trip. It had been during Raven's first few months as Eeth's apprentice. They had gone into the city to conduct investigations; not that there was much she could do at this stage of her training except watch. She had become bored, wandered off and, in short, gotten caught up in a dice game where she'd been outed as a Jedi, almost lost her lightsaber and come close to being captured and sold off. Thankfully, Eeth had noticed and helped her get out of that. He was, however, exceedingly pissed off when she had started trying to talk her way out of it on their journey home after having been ordered silent.

Raven cringed at the memory. To say that she was not looking forward to this was a gross understatement.

The speeder touched down gently and Eeth shut off the engines. He got out and nodded his chin towards the hood. Fortunately for Raven, there was no one around at the moment; not that he would have cared if there was!

Raven looked from their speeder to Eeth and then back again, her expression pained. Maybe there would be some sort of intervention? As she walked to the front of their speeder, her imagination started to race with possibilities: freak meteor shower? Invasion/ hostile takeover! No, no, those were probably worse than a few swats with Eeth's paddle. Not by much, though. Raven continued thinking as she stopped where he'd gestured and put her hands on the hood of their speeder. Temple maintenance FAIL, perfect! She looked at the sprinkler systems, to the blast doors, and finally, when none of this was visibly failing, looked over at Eeth and groaned. Apparently nothing was going to save her today. Thus, she bent forward so that, had her left hand not been unconsciously spread out protecting her backside, Eeth would have had a clear shot.

"Take your hand away," Eeth said brusquely, drawing a groan from Raven.

Having achieved compliance, Eeth pulled out his paddle. He had, in fact, not failed to notice that Raven had made an effort to release her emotions into the Force instead of indulging a temper tantrum as she would doubtlessly have done a few months earlier. He wanted to reward that, but at the same time, he needed to make clear that obedience was not negotiable.

Thus, he gave Raven no more than four measured swats – hard enough to be felt, but not hard enough to be excruciatingly painful. Then he stuck the paddle back into his belt and said, "You may get up."

Okay, thought Raven, so that had not exactly been pleasant, yet neither had the swats taken her breath away or reverberated around the hangar as they had the last time. Still, it had stung enough to have her rubbing and bouncing around a little when she turned to face him. Gaze down, the padawan folded her arms to keep from rubbing and replaced her bouncing with a slight shift of weight from foot to foot. After all, they were standing in the middle of the freakin' hangar bay, for the Force's sake!

Eeth pulled her into a hug. "Padawan," he said softly, "you dealt with your frustration very well. Had you decided to indulge your temper and throw a tantrum, as you would have been likely to do at the time I first met you, your pants would have come down and I would have dealt out a full dozen swats. As it is, you did the right thing and kept a handle on your emotions, and I wanted to reward that. I am proud of you." Coming from Eeth, this was high praise indeed.

When he released her from the hug, Raven looked up, met his gaze and managed a smile despite the fact that he'd just paddled her. "Good, so I got one thing right. Thank you, master." It had been heartfelt, too, even if her ass was still not ready to forgive him. The fact that he had gone easier on her this time was additional incentive to continue working on controlling her emotions. Of course, she knew that indulging in such emotions led to the Dark Side, and as a Temple-raised Jedi, Raven had no desire to fall.

Needless to say, Raven was still not getting out of the rest of the punishment, nor was Eeth going to spare her the calculations they needed to perform. Thus, he took her to the weights room where he, too, spent an hour rebuilding his muscles, very slowly and carefully as per his physiotherapist's advice.

After that, they went home where Eeth made tea, produced a plate of cookies (more for Raven's benefit than his own) and then projected a large spreadsheet with numbers into the room.

Raven sat, took a cookie, looked at the spreadsheet and dropped her head into her palm. "Here we go," she thought.

"This is the list of current revenues from taxes on weapons trade," said Eeth. He pressed a button, and a second set of numbers appeared next to the first. "This is how revenues are going to change if the current results of our negotiations were implemented," he continued. The difference was substantial. "These," he said, highlighting a number of rows, "have not been negotiated yet. Either we manage to convince the Senators to change some of them in a way that will allow us to increase revenue, or we need to take up again some of those that have already been negotiated and make them less expensive. Any suggestions?"

By this stage Raven had dragged her hand down her face and was looking up at the screen unenthusiastically. "Negotiate already negotiated taxes, or modify what hasn't been negotiated yet. Are those our only two options?"

"More or less," said Eeth. "The alternative would be to go ahead with the negotiations, produce a very expensive proposal and risk its rejection in the plenary vote, meaning that the negotiations would ultimately have failed. Needless to say, failure is not among my objectives. Do you have any suggestions concerning items that would be particularly promising to modify in order to increase revenue?"

"Point three are expensive weapons, and point seven is an item usually sold in bulk. Collectively, they make up billions. If we could modify those two somehow it would make a substantial difference, and we're only having to mess around with two, instead of lots of smaller ones." When Eeth nodded his agreement, Raven met him with a curious expression. "Do you think they'll go for it?" Raven had limited experience with the Senate, and even less so with weapons taxation, but she was giving this her full attention.

"That will partly depend on us," said Eeth. "Both of these points have already been negotiated. If we want to propose changes, we have to provide good arguments. In other words, we have to sell them. Of course, the real reason for which we want these changes is the cost to the Republic, but the Senators tend to be guided by their particular interests, or the interests of their constituencies, more than the common good; we have to bear that in mind."

Together, he and Raven came up with a list of proposals they would make – or which Eeth would try to convince some of the Senators of so they could propose them as their own. It was unlikely that all of them were going to be accepted, but if even half of them were, the costs of the legislative changes would be significantly lowered.

The concept of having to sell an idea that was for the greater good to the Senate, who was supposedly in place to work for the greater good, had Raven disliking politics even more. The fact that she herself struggled with this very concept, as recent as this afternoon, did not dawn on her.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yes, finally there's a new chapter. Sorry it took us so long. Real life is currently demanding nearly all our attention. Bear with us. We're doing the best we can, it's just going a bit more slowly than usual!

* * *

After having spent half her day in the Senate discussing weapons taxation, and a good deal of the afternoon with Eeth revising a strategy to improve the system, Raven was well and truly ready for a change of scenery. Unfortunately for her, Eeth was entirely unsympathetic over her frustration with their current assignment. Not only had he swatted her in the hangar bay, but he'd also taken away their freestyle sparring session and grounded her for the evening. To say that Raven was feeling sorry for herself at this point was a gross understatement. Sure, the padawan knew that her duty as a Jedi always had to come first, yet sometimes that was all good in theory, but harder to implement in practice.

Scrubbing at her eyes, Raven stood from the dining room table where they had been wrapping up their work while having a plate of sandwiches for dinner. "Could you please, pleeease reconsider and let me go to the padawans' lounge? We've been cooped up for most of the day, and I dealt with my frustration well, even you said so. Also, I did put a lot of effort into our proposal for tomorrow. I promise I've learnt my lesson; it's not going to sink in any deeper if you keep me at home for the next hour." She met Eeth with as contrite an expression as she could muster.

"You must be delusional," said Eeth brusquely. "Since when have I ever gone back on a punishment? I am not going to start now."

"You have to start somewhere. Besides, there is no time like the present as you often tell me."

"Nonsense," said Eeth even more brusquely. "I do not have to start at all, nor do I intend to. Find something to keep yourself busy with. If you cannot think of anything, I will come up with some chore or other."

Raven had something to busy herself with: she was teasing Eeth, and his brusque reactions amused her. "Aw, don't be like that. You're always telling me that I should strive to be the best I can be and not to give up just because something is hard. I'm sure if you tried, you could find it in your heart to change your mind."

"You are obviously bored," said Eeth, stony-faced. "Your refresher needs cleaning, and there is a pile of laundry that needs to be folded."

"And how does that help? It will only accentuate the boredom," replied Raven, not exactly keen on doing a bunch of cleaning.

"Be that as it may," said Eeth, giving her a quelling look, "these are your chores and you will do them now." He needed to read a report and did not feel overly indulgent with Raven's attempt to make him change his mind.

"Alright alright, keep your tunic on," Raven replied at receiving that look and left to do as told, a very slight smile on her face. It was fun to tease him, even if said teasing landed her extra work more often than not.

* * *

The following morning, Eeth let Raven sleep in – meaning that he allowed her to sleep till seven instead of the usual six o'clock.

"So, to what do I owe such a privilege?" Raven asked through a yawn when her eyes had focused enough to notice the later hour.

"To the fact that our work does not start until after lunch," said Eeth. "I expect you in the common room for our morning meditation in twenty minutes."

When Raven exited her bedroom, it was to the smell of freshly baked bread. She sniffed the air appreciatively and sat by Eeth, peering over to see what he was reading. Yep: surprise, surprise! It was yet another chart full of figures. "You made bread? What sort?" The padawan asked in lieu of her typical greeting. She hoped it was the one with olives, herbs and stuff because that was her favourite.

"Your favourite," Eeth said a little absent-mindedly, making a note. He switched the datapad off and looked at Raven. "We could eat something now," he said. "I want to perform a synchronised kata with you in place of our usual morning meditation since there might be no time for a workout later today, and it might go better after you have eaten."

"Yay!" replied Raven, the comment covering both of Eeth's statements. She hopped up from the chair and went to go see what there was to have with the bread.

Breakfast was eaten with the usual chatter on Raven's part. And as usual, they cleaned up together. It was then that their comm unit signalled an incoming call. "I'll get it," she said, throwing down her dish towel.

* * *

A few minutes later, Raven appeared in Eeth's bedroom doorway and leant her shoulder into the frame. "That was Bindi," she announced, gaining his attention. "I've been invited to that expo that's been going on a few blocks away. Kyle and Lin are both going, too, so we won't be unsupervised." Raven was quick to add the latter as Eeth would probably not let her go unless this fact was mentioned. "Would that be okay with you? I can be back before we have to leave for the assignment, I promise." Raven was excited at the prospect of spending time with her friends OUTSIDE of the Temple and away from the constant supervision.

Eeth considered this but could find no reason to deny it. Lin must be around seventeen years old, after all; the expo was really only a few blocks away; and it was morning, not late at night. Besides, even he could acknowledge that Raven's mid-term break must so far have been less than satisfactory for her and that she might feel like doing something … well, "fun".

"Alright," he finally said. "But you absolutely have to be back by two. We cannot afford to leave any later than that for the Senate."

"I absolutely will," Raven assured him, practically vibrating at the thought of getting some time out with her friends.

A short time later, Raven strode down the halls as fast as she could without running. Tunning was against the rules, after all, and something Eeth had expressed his disapproval for on several occasions.

"Raven! You're early. That's gotta be a first," said Worik, pulling her into a hug.

"I'll take what little freedoms I can get. I was grounded forever and then this assignment, it's…" Raven scrunched up her nose. "It's doing my head in."

"That bad?" asked Orion, coming up from behind. He tried to sound sympathetic but it came out a little sceptical, maybe because he wished Master Deleon would take him on half as many assignments as Eeth seemed to take Raven on! He had yet to work with the Senate.

"Worse, but you made it and that makes the pain bearable, at least for now." Raven smiled at him and looked around to see who else was going. There were quite a few padawans gathered around by now. She spoke to Kyle briefly, wanting to know about his latest escapades. After all, it had not been that long ago that someone had reprogrammed a few of the Temple's cleaning droids to believe they were protocol droids. It had been funny, and Kyle admitted that it had indeed been his handy work.

"Let's go have breakfast, we'll give the others time to catch up," announced Kyle. They were still waiting on Lin, as well as a few others.

"No need," said a voice behind him as Lin and the others emerged into the hallway. "Sorry, we were held up by Katta's master who insisted on making her recite the rulebook before allowing her to go." Katta groaned and rolled her eyes in a comical fashion.

"I've already had breakfast," said Orion. "How about the rest?"

"I haven't," said Lin, who wasn't a morning person. "But I don't want to hold up everyone. We could pick up something on the way. There are lots of coffee shops at the shuttle station. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me," answered Kyle. A couple of others admitted to not having had breakfast yet, and so they stopped by an eatery at the station.

"Alright then," said Lin as they made their way to the shuttle stop. It was only a two-minute ride but they preferred that to a twenty-minute walk through the Coruscant smog. "No one leave my sight. Once we're at the expo, we'll start at the inside and work our way out. Each of you have a comlink and my code. If you get separated, comm me immediately. If I lose any of you during this trip, your masters won't be pleased and I'm not keen on having to explain it to them. Got it?"

This received a chorus of affirmative responses from the group of padawans gathered. Each of them knew the rules, and none were eager to piss off their masters, or Lin and Kyle for that matter.

The morning was just what Raven needed: No adults hovering, no bickering Senators, no taking freakin' minutes! No obligations other than those which were standard in the life of a Jedi. The girl was positively beaming. The expo was quite large, busy and had just about everything from the latest hologames to cooler fuses. There was even a stall that sold paper books, and a few places that Bindi discovered had sheet music downloads that she could stream. It was also very colourful. Species of all shapes and sizes were here both as buyers and sellers, some of which the three younger padawans were seeing for the first time outside of holos. Most of the stalls used a mix of themed decorations and multilingual shouting to attract attention, while others used more visual means like bubbles, holo projections, and even demonstrations of their products in use. Raven found the weapons stalls of particular interest for the latter reason. She wanted to join in, but Eeth had once told her that these demonstrations would be no match for a Jedi.

"We don't perform for an audience," Kyle told her, unknowingly echoing Eeth's exact words from months ago, and tugging her from the demonstration.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just, just…" Raven looked up at him, but really, she had wanted to join in and couldn't exactly hide that.

"…Just about to move on, I know," said Lin, putting her hands on Raven's and Kyle's shoulders. "The others are already at the exit. Come on, we'll head for the diner. It's getting late." It was almost noon and they were all hungry; and besides, Lin was well aware that Raven needed to be back by two, and she had no desire to get on Eeth Koth's bad side!

Once at the diner, they ordered food and were soon swapping purchases. None of them had much in the way of credits; the Jedi were not wealthy by any means nor did they encourage a lot of possessions. The few things they did own were appreciated, though, and it showed in the way in which each padawan talked about the things they'd found. "I'll learn this next," Bindi said, speaking of the download she'd gotten from a music stall.

"Twi'lek fingers are long and thin. If I had hands like yours, I'd love to play an instrument." Worik held up a stumpy, webbed hand which was currently looking a bit puffy and was taking on an orange tinge.

"What the Force is with your hand?" Raven asked, but it was Kyle who acted, grabbing the boy's wrist and deftly pulling him upright.

"What have you been touching? Does it hurt, and is it anywhere else?" he quizzed the boy, while checking him over through the Force and with his eyes.

"I didn't touch anything. I didn't even notice it until just then," said Worik while he checked himself over. Thankfully, it was just the one hand on the inside of his palm. It was barely noticeable unless he stuck it right in your face as he'd done.

Kyle turned to Lin who was equally in charge of this outing. "We'll have to take him to the healers just to be on the safe side."

Lin nodded. "Yeah, we should. Are any of you trained at healing?" Healing talent varied greatly among Jedi and Lin had none whatsoever. She had taken a number of first-aid classes, of course, but since she had not exactly brought along a selection of anti-allergy hyposprays suited for Mon Calamari, that did not help much.

Raven stepped forward to take a look, but before she could say or do anything, Worik cut her off. "Hang on a minute, let's not be too hasty here. It's probably just an allergic reaction." He looked from Bindi to Raven and then to some of the others for backup, but upon receiving none, he was outvoted.

"I'm pretty good with this stuff," said Raven, taking up a seat at the table beside him, and began examining his hand.

Barely twenty-five seconds later, Worik was growing impatient. "What is it?"

"I don't know yet. Stop fussing and let me concentrate," Raven replied.

It took a couple of minutes before Raven opened her eyes again. "Your body is fighting a toxin."

"What sort of toxin?" and "Can you fix it?" asked Worik and Kyle at the same time.

"I don't know," said Raven honestly. "It's most likely some sort of insect. You can't feel it because the toxin has an anaesthetic effect. If Eeth were here he would probably be able to stop it from spreading, but all I can do is numb the pain which–"

"Is pointless given it doesn't hurt," Worik finished for her.

Raven gave him a sheepish expression. "Yeah. If it's any consolation, I don't think you're going to die."

"No, but we're going back to the Temple in any case. A healer will know what to do," announced Kyle. And given that everyone tended to agree, nobody complained about having to cut their trip short.

* * *

"As far as I'm concerned, you're good to go," Junior Healer Arkan told Worik, dropping the now-empty hypospray container into the trash bin. "I'll have your medication sent to your quarters. One hypospray tomorrow morning and one the day after tomorrow, and you should be fine. Come back to see me if you aren't. Now wait for a moment. Healer Sopan will check on you in a moment and give you leave to go."

"I'm glad it's nothing serious," said Lin, rising from her chair. She was genuinely relieved and it showed on her face.

"Yeah, so are we," said Orion, clapping Worik on the back.

"I told you it was nothing to worry about," Worik reminded them.

"I hardly call this," Bindi grabbed his sleeve and with it his arm and held it up, "nothing." By now the swelling had gone down a little thanks to the hypospray, but it was still large and orange. Apparently Worik had been stung by an insect that must have been brought in on one of the fruit pallets. It wasn't life-threatening but it did look pretty spectacular.

"I wish it was me, then I would have an excuse to get out of this stupid assignment," Raven told them, sighing and looking at her watch; it was almost two in the afternoon and she would have to get going soon. "Can you rub some of it on me, maybe that will work?" she suggested and started rubbing his bloated hand up her arm.

"Hey, cut that out," said Kyle. It was bad enough having one of his group wind up in the healers. He wasn't about to add another, especially so on purpose. "This must be one boring assignment if you'd rather look like balloon boy here than go."

Raven huffed but desisted with her antics. "I guess you're right. It's just that I went straight from a pretty intense cycle of classes into a break full of Senate meetings. I don't get any break this term, and Eeth is entirely unsympathetic about it."

"Masters tend to be like that, yes," said Lin, who had a lot of experience with this kind of thing and was actually rather surprised to spend this term break sans assignments.

"You could always tell Eeth that Worik needs you around for moral support? After all, he is in the healers' wing with a hand that looks like it belongs to a Hutt," Bindi, who had a knack for problem-solving, suggested.

Raven raised her eyebrows, surprise clear on her face. Of all her friends, Bindi was the last one she expected to come up with a scheme like that. "No way. Every time I do something like this, Eeth finds out about it and I end up getting my ass handed to me."

Ignoring Raven's statement, Worik continued where Bindi left off. "You know, that's not a bad idea. And it happens to be true. I really would like to have you around. Eeth needn't know every detail. Just tell him I'm scared and I need a friend." He held up his hand which, truth be told, did look like something to be scared about. Still, Raven wasn't sure. Essentially, this boiled down to one question: were the consequences of being caught out worth a day off the Senate to spend with her friend? "It would only work for one day, but beggars can't be choosers," said Worik.

As a Jedi padawan, Raven knew her duty, but she also thought that having to endure this whole Senate debacle was a bit unfair on her. None of her friends were forced to sit through hours of meetings for their entire break. It was that stab of self-pity that had Raven rethinking this. It was a good idea, and the actual deception was buried beneath real truth.

"Well, I, personally, think you'd be digging your own grave," said Lin who could see that Raven was giving this idea some serious thought. "I won't rat you out, of course. But don't expect me to lie for you to Eeth Koth, of all people, if the shit hits the fan."

"I wouldn't expect you to get yourself in trouble for me, Lin," Raven said a tad touchily.

"It was just an idea," said Bindi, shrugging. She had only suggested it because she actually felt a bit sorry for Raven and her rotten luck at drawing an assignment that she hated so much.

The conversation shifted to the expo, and nothing more was said about Bindi's idea or Raven's Senate assignment. She continued deliberating, though, carefully weighing up the pros and cons. It was then that a thought occurred to her: could this be considered as taking advantage of Eeth's illness? She didn't think it was, but still, there was no way in Hoth that Raven was going to go down that road again, and so she gave it another moment of thought. Just then her wrist chrono buzzed, drawing everyone's attention, and Healer Sopan entered their room to discharge Worik. If she were going to do it, now was the time as her story would never be pitched with more authenticity.

"Master." She gave a formal bow as the small holographic image of Eeth hovered above her comlink. He would be able to see that she was in the healers' wing, and probably make out a few figures in the background, yet Raven had moved far enough away so that he would not be able to overhear the healer's words and any comments she might make about Worik's condition. Equally, the conversation she was about to have with Eeth would not be overheard by the healer, who, unlike her fellow padawan peers, would not hesitate to blow her story sky-high. "Worik was stung by something at the expo and we've had to rush him to the healers. His master is on her way back to the Temple but won't be here until this afternoon." This was a half-truth; Master Gallia really was on her way but not due to Worik's injury. "He's scared and wants me to stay with him. Is that okay?" As if on cue, Worik let out a yelp that Eeth would have overheard; he'd obviously noticed what Raven was doing and was trying to help out.

Under ordinary circumstances, Eeth might have been suspicious. As it was, he was preoccupied with the upcoming meeting, for which he really needed to leave, and a little tired as well. It was clear that Worik was in the healers' wing and he could even see Healer Sopan walking around behind Raven so there was no reason to assume that anything was not as it should be. Besides, he did not really need Raven for the meeting; there would be a lot of committee meetings without her presence once classes resumed, anyway.

"Alright, padawan," he said. "Stay with Worik. We will meet at our quarters at seven, at which time I will give you an update on the committee session. May the Force be with you."

"And with you, master," replied Raven, bowing as the image of Eeth flickered out. She returned to find that Healer Sopan had dismissed Worik and everyone was staring at her. Raven's smile told them all they needed to know, though; she had actually pulled it off.

"I can't believe it," said Lin. "Well, good luck to you while it lasts."

"Don't be so negative," said Orion. "There has to be a first time for everything. This might be the first time Raven pulls one over Eeth. Who knows?"

"Naturally it was my acting sealed the deal," said Worik, smiling. "Although Healer Sopan didn't think it was amusing when I told her I was testing her reflexes."

"Healers have no sense of humour," Raven snorted, putting an arm around Bindi. "It was a good idea, thanks."

"What are friends for? Besides, you look like you could use a break."

"Yeah, I could."

That afternoon Raven did indeed spend her time with Worik. Granted, they didn't sit in the healers' wing. Instead, they went to the padawans' lounge, played games that didn't involve the use of both hands and talked. It was quite possibly the best day Raven had had since Lakhri had taken her to Tree World.

That evening Raven returned to their quarters early enough to make dinner. She was feeling a bit guilty over having spent the day resting while Eeth was at the Senate, but then again, he did enjoy doing such things.

Nonetheless, Eeth was extremely tired by the time he returned home. He was loath to admit it, but this Senate assignment was more exhausting to him than it should be.

He was quite glad to see that Raven had already prepared dinner. If she had not, he might have gone straight to bed.

"Thank you, padawan," he said quietly, giving her a faint smile. "I will wash my hands and join you in a moment."

"You do that," said Raven equally quietly. His fatigue, although not palpable, was still something Raven was able to pick up across their bond. Besides, it was odd that Eeth did not immediately take over and start giving instructions.

Eeth emerged from his room after a minute and sat down. "I appreciate it that you made dinner," he said. "How is Worik? Is he any better? Has his master returned?"

"A bit, yeah. It looked pretty intense, but the healers said it was going to be okay. Master Gallia should be back at the Temple by now. Worik expected her to arrive around the same time you were due back," explained Raven. Eager to change the subject, she met Eeth with a penetrating look. "You're tired. Did something else happen today other than meetings?"

Eeth paused for a moment. Yes, he was tired, but he had not thought it was so obvious.

"Yes, I am a little tired," he finally said. "For no particular reason, I assume. Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the meeting. It might simply be due to the fact that I had a workout this morning and, unlike on other such occasions during the past weeks, had no time to rest this afternoon. I will be fine by tomorrow morning if I turn in early and get enough sleep."

"Well," she replied in her best authoritative healer-like tone, "after dinner you ought to rest. Healer's orders." Raven hoped that he wasn't going to be stubborn about this and insist on keeping their evening routine. He really didn't look so hot and she was a bit worried.

Eeth frowned. "I will not take orders from you," he said. "That said, I will go to bed after dinner. I need to be well-rested for the morning session tomorrow, which will be crucial for the implementation of our cost-reduction proposal."

Raven found Eeth's stubbornness amusing, and her lip curled slightly despite his comments on the critical nature of tomorrow's Senate session. "They aren't my orders, they're Healer Sopan's." Her lip now curled into a crooked smile as she parroted Lakhri. "Besides, I would only give orders that would get the full support of all the healers in the Temple if things were put to a vote."

"Healer Sopan has never ordered me to go to bed right after dinner," said Eeth sharply. "I will do it nonetheless because I take my health seriously. I do not need you to remind me." He was not going to allow his padawan to pretend she was his superior!

"No, but she did order you not to overdo it, and told Lakhri and I to watch out for you which is all I'm trying to do," Raven shot back. There was no bite to her words, though, as she could see that arguing with him was only going to exacerbate his fatigue. Eeth just gave her a weary look in return, which was entirely atypical for him, and finished his dinner without much enthusiasm.

* * *

Unfortunately, and despite going to bed outrageously early, by the following morning Eeth found that his fatigue had not abated significantly. He did feel a little more rested, but his energy reserves were still low and the thought of a day full of committee meetings was unusually unappealing. Yet, duty was duty. And thus, as per his habit, he got up a little before six and woke up his padawan.

"Get up, padawan," he said firmly, switching on the lights. "I expect you to be ready for our morning meditation in twenty minutes."

"Yesmaster," Raven replied through a yawn and poured herself out of bed. She was making an effort not to cause Eeth any more trouble given his state, and so she got ready for her day without efforts at teasing him or stalling.

Twenty-five minutes later, Raven exited her bathroom, hair damp, brush and tie in hand. "Master," she greeted him in the usual fashion, offering him a formal bow. She was about to move to her meditation mat when she noticed his appearance. Eeth was his usual immaculate self, his hair and clothing were flawless. However, his pallor and sunken eyes told another story. "You're still tired," the padawan observed. That a full night of sleep had not helped much was cause for concern.

"I am sure I will be better after I have meditated," Eeth replied evenly. He motioned for her to kneel next to him and did her braid, as he often did in the mornings.

What he had said was true: he did feel better after their meditation. Well enough to proceed with their morning routine, anyway. "Breakfast," he said, rising from his mat and heading for the kitchen where he started to make some tea. He was not particularly hungry, so he left it to Raven to decide on bread, cereal or porridge for breakfast.

Ten minutes later, Raven set a pot of porridge on their dining room table, eyeing Eeth dubiously. "No offence meant, master, but you really don't look so crash hot. You're pale again. Why don't we contact the Council and ask for someone else to go in today?" And this time it really wasn't for selfish reasons; she was honestly concerned.

Eeth frowned. "I do not appreciate delegating my duties to others," he replied brusquely. "Besides, heading a Senate Committee is not physically strenuous in any sense of the word. I will be fine. The healers have cleared me for taking on this task, after all. – Thank you, padawan." He gratefully accepted the cup of tea she had poured him.

Raven wasn't exactly pleased with Eeth's response, yet attempting to give him orders had gone down like a lead balloon. Thus, the padawan remained silent for the moment, focusing on eating her porridge. It wasn't until she sensed that Eeth was practically having to force his breakfast down one spoonful at a time, that she decided to try another tactic. "The healers can't anticipate everything." She summoned her comlink from the coffee table and put it in front of him. "You won't be much good to anyone in the meeting if you can't keep your eyes open. Please, give one of the healers a call and get one of them to come check you over. Because if you don't, I'm going to call them myself. Your colour has drained and you're worrying me." Raven was also feeling culpable over his state. Was it possible that he had relapsed because she had left him to do all the work yesterday?

Eeth's first impulse was to object and to forbid Raven from making decisions related to his health. After all, he was the grown-up here, not her, and he could very well take care of himself. He thought better of it, though. Raven clearly was concerned for him, and having a healer clear him for the day's activities would put her concerns to rest. Besides, there was a tiny inkling of doubt in his mind whether he _was _actually up to the day's activities. A healer would be able to tell.

"Very well, padawan," he said in resignation. "If it makes you feel better."

It did not take Healer Sopan more than ten minutes to make it to their quarters. And she was not pleased with what she found.

"This Senate assignment is clearly more than you can handle right now," she said firmly. "You need more time to rest than you're currently getting. Unless you're very careful, you will weaken your body to an extent where you will develop a suprainfection, and these are notoriously difficult to handle in Zabrak. Call the Council and request a replacement. Your dealings with the Senate are put on hold for at least two weeks. You will need to rest for three days. Light household chores, looking after your padawan, those will be fine. But no work whatsoever. And don't start going on about duty, I've heard that speech more often than I care to remember. After the three days are over, you can start thinking about duties, but only if they allow you to stay at the Temple and take frequent breaks. Any questions?"

Eeth scowled. This was not what he had been hoping to hear. However, he had learned long ago not to mess with the healers, and he was not going to make that mistake again.

"No," he said reluctantly. And thus, he called the Council and informed them of the situation. The Council secretary promptly appointed a replacement, arranged for her to meet Eeth later in the day for instructions and informed the Senate administration that today's meeting would have to be postponed until tomorrow.

"Well, padawan," said Eeth wearily when all that was done, "it seems that you were right to call a healer. I am not sure I want to thank you, but I really should."

"Well, I can't say that I'm happy to have been right in this case, but I'm glad you're going to be okay," Raven said a little shyly. "If you're up to it, maybe try to finish your breakfast. I can clean up for us while you sleep afterwards, if you like," the padawan suggested. She was doing her best to make up for having left him to finish their meeting yesterday.

"Padawan, I do not need to lie down after breakfast," said Eeth patiently. "I am not _that_ exhausted. Not well enough to conduct a whole-day meeting, but well enough for 'light household chores' and looking after you, according to the healer." He sat back down at the breakfast table and poured himself some more tea, which seemed more appealing to him than food right now..

"You might not _need_ to lie down, but maybe you'd like to? Anyway, I don't need looking after, I'm twelve now and I can look after myself." It was true, too, Raven was well able to manage her own time. Well, mostly.

"I will sit and read," said Eeth. "You are free to spend the morning as you like. I will book the obstacle course for your workout this afternoon." This would be the ideal way to provide Raven with the amount of exercise she needed while allowing Eeth to stand by and avoid doing anything strenuous.

A free morning followed by an afternoon session at the obstacle course, if it was the course she was thinking of? This was music to Raven's ears. Her face lit up and she gave him a genuine smile. "Thank you! I'll go spend some time with Worik if he's free. After that, I'll go to the padawans' lounge and maybe have lunch with Bindi," Raven planned aloud, and given that Eeth had no objections to this, it was exactly what she did.

And Eeth was glad for it. He was feeling more tired than he had been ready to acknowledge, and Raven's absence allowed him to truly relax, which he might not have permitted himself to do while Raven was around. Who knew – he even might take an actual nap after lunch.


	5. Chapter 5

Late on Friday afternoon, Eeth was sitting on the couch, recovering from what had been a strenuous workout for Raven while he had mostly been standing around giving instructions. He shouldn't need to recover from that but he did! That made him realise how close he had been to a full relapse. He really did need all the rest he could get.

Unexpectedly, the door chime sounded. Since Raven was currently taking a shower, Eeth stood up with a sigh and opened the door, finding himself looking down on Lakhri.

"Lakhri," he said. "Come in."

"Thanks," said Lakhri, following him inside. "I was hoping I might invite myself for dinner. I've been busy with an advanced mission preparation class all day – well, all week, really – and I'm starving."

"You always are," said Eeth. "You may stay for dinner but we will need to order in. I have not prepared anything."

He sat at the terminal and requested the menu of Lakhri's favourite Careenian delivery service.

"Great," said Lakhri, sitting down at the dining table. "Whatever you're ordering, I'll have two of it."

He took a closer look at Eeth and frowned.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked. "You don't look so well." He had not seen Eeth these past days since both of them had been so busy but the man looked decidedly worse than he had done last weekend.

"I am not," admitted Eeth. While he ordered their food, with a double serving for Lakhri, he told him what Healer Sopan had said.

"Okay, at least Raven would have been happy to get out of the Senate assignment, I bet," said Lakhri. "Weren't you?" That question was directed at Raven who had just emerged into the common room.

"I was," admitted Raven whilst combing out slightly damp hair. She sat into the empty seat opposite him and added in a stage whisper: "Although I'm pretty sure that master would have pushed himself into a full relapse had the healers not intervened, in order to finish the horrid thing."

Eeth was silent for a moment. Then he said, "This is probably true, and I am not proud of it. As a matter of fact, it was Raven who made the healers intervene. I am truly grateful to you, Padawan. Much as I dislike having to abandon an assignment, relapsing would have been worse."

"It would," agreed Raven, pulling her legs up under her to sit cross-legged on the chair. "Are you going to stay for dinner?" Raven asked Lakhri. She hoped he would because having him around always made things more lively.

"Yep," said Lakhri. "So… Are you doing anything fun this weekend, at least? You didn't have much of a break, after all." As he said it, it occurred to him that Eeth was in no state to provide any "fun" for Raven, even in the unlikely event that he desired to do so.

"I haven't had time to plan anything yet," Raven replied, but it got her thinking. A weekend all to herself with no classes, no assignments, no mission prep classes, that virtually never happened.

Lakhri looked from Raven, to Eeth's drawn and pale face, and back to Raven. "How about I take her on a two-day trip so you can rest?" he asked. "We could go to the South Pole zoo. Or Water World. Or even off-planet, to Vandor-3. What do you think?"

Raven's mouth fell open, and she looked from Lakhri to Eeth, eyes wide.

The offer came unexpected to Eeth. He had to admit that the prospect of having two days of peace and quiet seemed appealing right now. Besides, Raven had really not had much of a break, and yet, the occasional complaint notwithstanding, she had done a good job on their assignment.

"Would you like to, Raven?" he asked."

"Are you serious? Force, yes!" Raven said, practically jumping out of her seat. It was then that she looked at Eeth's pale face and drawn features and she felt reluctant to leave him. "But if I go, who will take care of you?"

"Padawan, I can take care of myself," said Eeth mildly. "You heard Healer Sopan. She has no issue with light household chores. And I do not need you to hover over me while I rest. You worked hard for your exams and for this week's assignments. This really deserves a reward. If Lakhri is willing to take you out, by all means go. Thank you, Lakhri." And he really did feel grateful. This was the best thing that could have happened to him at this point.

"You're welcome," said Lakhri, grinning. "Where would you like to go, Raven? Oh. There's our food."

The door chime had sounded and Lakhri went to accept their delivery.

At this point, Raven was not sure what to feel. She was beside herself with excitement over Lakhri's offer to take her someplace of her choosing, yet Eeth was still sick, and his comment about being deserving of a reward caused a stab of guilt. Yes, she had worked hard during their assignment, but she had also left him with all the work while she went off with Worik. That this lack of responsibility on her behalf might have been responsible for Eeth's decline in health and subsequent removal from their assignment was something Raven had not yet come to terms with. Logically, she knew that having her seated next to Eeth taking the minutes would probably not have prevented the deterioration of his condition. Then again, maybe she might have sensed his fatigue building and not let him get to the point where she was forced to threaten him with intervention!

* * *

For once, when Eeth came to wake Raven the next morning, she was already awake. Today Lakhri was coming to pick her up and they were going to spend the weekend at Water World. Ordinarily, she would have jumped at any opportunity to go to Vandor-3, which was off-world, but (and although she had not said as much) Raven felt reluctant to go too far from Eeth while he was still recovering.

"Good morning, padawan," said Eeth. "Lakhri is going to be here in an hour. Please get ready for the day and pack your bag. We will meditate and have breakfast afterwards."

He had gone to bed early and was feeling much better than yesterday. A couple of days of rest and he would be fine, hopefully.

Raven was up and in the shower in a flash today. When she exited twenty-five minutes later carrying a pack with two days worth of supplies, the smile she wore was all teeth. "How are you feeling?" she asked, tossing her pack onto their couch and reaching out with the Force to check for herself.

"Padawan, I am fine," said Eeth. "I have had a night's sleep and I have no work to do today. There is no need to worry about me." He pointed her towards the meditation mat.

Raven gave him a sceptical look but said no more. After all, what she sensed from him through their bond backed up his words.

They were just finishing breakfast when Lakhri arrived.

"Heya," he said. "How are you doing, Eeth? You look a little better."

"I feel better, too," said Eeth. "Have you had breakfast already or would you like some?"

"Ordinarily, I'd say yes to both questions," said Lakhri, "but as it is, I booked tickets on the trans-core shuttle service because it's the fastest way to get to the other side of Coruscant. We should get going."

Raven shovelled the last of her breakfast down, as asking to leave it unfinished had never worked for her before, and then she shot to her feet. "I'm already packed," she told Lakhri, beaming. "Want us to clean up for you before we go?" she asked Eeth. Raven didn't actually know if they had time to do this or not, but neither did she want to leave it all to him, as much as he was feeling better.

"Thank you, but I have all morning to do it," said Eeth. "I would not want you to miss your shuttle. Enjoy yourself, padawan. And thank you, Lakhri, for taking her."

"You're welcome," said Lakhri. "Just use the weekend to get some rest, will you?"

"Yes, I will," said Eeth, and he meant it.

Given that Water World was on the other side of Coruscant, they took the trans-core express, which was a first for Raven. It was much larger, longer and less cluttered than any of the shuttles Eeth had taken her on to get around Coruscant so far. Besides, this one had cabins, not that they had booked one of those. Apparently, private cabins were a luxury that the Jedi could do without, or so Lakhri told her as they passed them by.

When they arrived at Liana's, the resort that hosted Water World, they were ushered to their room by a protocol droid who informed them that they had open access to most of the park, although Raven would need to be supervised if they were visiting any of the areas that served alcohol. He handed them a swipe key each before he left, closing the door behind him. "Nice space," Raven observed, tossing her pack onto the single couch that sat under a window that was too high for Raven to actually see out of. It was pretty much like their Temple quarters; being uncluttered, tidy and containing all the necessities, if nothing more.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry my budget didn't allow for a jungle-themed suite," said Lakhri with a grin. "Anyway, we won't spend much time here. Shall we go diving? They have actual coral reefs. I packed some underwater breathing devices. Eeth taught you how to use them, didn't he?"

Raven gave him a semi-indignant look. "Of course, Eeth taught me on our mission to Borleias," replied Raven while rummaging through her bag for her swimsuit. A moment later, something suitable was pulled from her pack and she paused. "What bedroom do you want?" Because there were two and they'd need to dump their stuff somewhere.

"I don't care," said Lakhri. "None of them have a view because that would have been the expensive category. Just pick one and let's go. We can have lunch at the reef. They have restaurants everywhere in this place."

Raven didn't need telling twice. She ran for the closest bedroom which happened to be right by their kitchenette. Lakhri's was over by the front door. Less than two minutes later, the padawan appeared in their tiny common room, dressed in the bikini, shorts and sandals that she had worn on Borleias, a towel swaddling her shoulders.

Lakhri was determined to provide Raven with as much fun as she could possibly have during this weekend, even if it meant spending most of his monthly allowance on this. She had worked hard these past months and had got little enough enjoyment. While Eeth had improved considerably since Lakhri's own padawanhood, he was still wary of allowing too much fun unless he could somehow pretend it was educational. Well, despite the "educational" coral reefs, Water World was a vacation resort, built to provide the citizens of Coruscant with an on-planet opportunity to relax. And unlike Eeth, Lakhri thought that both he and Raven were entitled to enjoying such things every once in a while!

So, he took her to the reef where they went diving for a couple of hours. When they were hungry, they found two deck chairs by the reef and ordered a big finger food platter of fried vegetables, dips, bread rolls and tropical fruit, along with two big fruit cocktails.

"There's an 'adolescents only' area, I think," he said as he leaned back in his chair, sipping on his cocktail. "Forbidden for everyone above the age of seventeen, with waterslides and pools and such. Would you like to check it out?"

Raven smiled. "Sure, and maybe you can use that time to check out the 'adult only' area while I'm gone," she suggested, hoping that he would indeed not miss out on what the park had to offer him just because she was here. Raven got to her feet, pulled on her sandals and took her towel.

Lakhri laughed. "No, I'm not getting drunk, nor do I desperately want to hook up with someone," he said. "I gather that's mostly what the 'adults only' section is for. I'll just stay here and read. That's all the entertainment I need. Be back here in two hours. If you want to stay longer, be back here in two hours anyway and tell me. Alright?"

"Yes, Lakhri," replied Raven and left him to his reading. She hadn't given a lot of thought to what would be available to him in the adults-only section of the park but had to concede that if all that awaited him there was sex and alcohol, she didn't blame him for giving it a miss.

Despite being signposted as an 'adult-free' zone, the kids' section was indeed supervised; there were quite a few lifeguards milling around to make sure that nothing crazy happened. Raven had to admit that she couldn't blame the park for taking this precaution, especially so when she saw a bunch of older teenagers trying to climb up the support railing of a slide. Luckily, they were stopped before any of the younger kids watching could replicate that stunt and kill themselves.

It didn't take Raven long to make some friends, and soon the twelve-year-old was sharing an inflatable raft with three other girls all around her age. The raft ride sent them down a river that ran around the kids' area and through different obstacles, including over a waterfall where the journey ended by dumping them all out of the raft and into the pool. It was the best ride in the park so far! Raven thought the only thing that could make this better would be if Lakhri were around to come with them; he seemed to have the same stamina for fun as she did. This made her think of Eeth, her not-so-fun-loving master, and her lip curled into a smile as she recalled his stoic expression as they rode the Temple's slides together. How anyone could not laugh was totally beyond her, yet Eeth managed.

The three girls were all from the same large family group. Two were sisters, and one was a cousin. There were fifteen of them all up, most of whom were kids. Treena, the oldest of them, pointed out other members of their family as they passed them. Raven was surprised to find that when they sat down for snacks sometime later, the boys who had been told off for climbing up the slide supports were part of Treena's family. Two of them pointed at her, smiling and elbowing each other as she sat down.

"Boys are so stupid," said Treena, rolling her eyes at them and swivelling Raven's chair around so that she didn't have to look at her dumb cousins gawking.

Raven honestly couldn't have cared less, yet she pretended to if only to go along with the others.

They hadn't been seated long when Raven's thus far evasive answers about her life on Coruscant were questioned, and she had to admit to being a Jedi. Sure, the padawan might have lied to them about this, but in this instance, there was no reason to.

"Hey, Matti!" called out Ayisha, Treena's cousin, to the older of the two boys who had been gawking at Raven. "Bad luck for you. She's a Jedi!"

Matti jumped up. "She WHAT?" he asked. And ten seconds later, a dozen teenagers were crowded around Raven, bombarding her with questions about her training and life at the Temple. Even a few of the adults came to listen.

An inquisition was precisely what the padawan had hoped to avoid, although her expression did not say as much as she patiently entertained their queries. That was until the standard school and Temple-life sort of questions ran dry, and they started to ask about her duty and the Order.

"What's the most bad-ass thing you've ever done?" asked Gar, who was half-heartedly clipped around the ear for his choice in language by his mother.

Raven ran her fingers along her padawans' braid. The term 'bad-ass' could mean many things, but she was pretty sure what they wanted to hear. Unfortunately, Raven had not done anything that fit into that category and so she improvised. "Probably the time that I released several hundred chickens on a field trip to Pellebet."

Her audience was stunned into silence. "Chickens? Chickens! But, haven't you chased down bounty hunters or something?" asked Ang, disappointed in her answer.

"Only in simulations," replied Raven, grinning.

"What makes releasing a bunch of chickens so bad? It's just chickens," Ang wanted to know.

Raven contemplated fobbing them off, that was until she saw the honest curiosity in their expressions. "For a start, I was explicitly ordered not to cause any trouble after the last field trip had ended in me bringing home a scorcher." This comment resulted in many questions about scorchers which the padawan answered before continuing with her story. "It was also pretty stupid. I didn't think about what effect my actions would have on the Order, or my teacher for that matter. I just did it because I felt sorry for the chickens. And I really did feel for them, I won't deny that. I could have gone about it a different way, though."

"But can't the Jedi do mind tricks?" asked Ayisha. "Like this?" She waved her hands around and said in as deep and important a voice as she could muster, "You will set your chickens freeeeeeee!"

Raven had to work at hiding her smile. "Sure," she waved the question off, unwilling to admit that she couldn't actually do that yet. She could do it with animals, and so it was a half-truth. "But it takes a lot of effort to do that. Besides, it's entirely unethical and it was easier to mess with the locks."

Matti glanced to his right and left, noticing that several adults were listening in on the conversation.

"Wanna go to the wave pool?" he asked conversationally.

As soon as they were out of earshot, he asked excitedly, "Could you get us into the adults' area? They've got these special cocktails that make you kind of dizzy, and my uncle has been going on about how they made the roller coaster slide extra fun. He won't get us any, though. You could, couldn't you?"

Raven just looked at him as they entered the wave pool and took a surfboard each. Could she get into the adults-only area if she wanted to? Technically, yes.

"Please, we won't tell on you or anything," added Ang upon noticing that the Jedi girl seemed to be giving Matti's idea some serious thought.

Raven was thinking, but it wasn't about how to get them in, it was more about letting them down without losing face. Had this been a year ago, the answer would have been a simple: "of course I'll help you, let's go!" but Raven had learned that giving in to peer pressure to do things that she knew to be against the Jedi's code of ethics did not end well for her. Besides, it wasn't so long ago, during their mission to Borleias, that a similar situation had cropped up and Raven had made the wrong decision. The padawan swallowed at the memory of Eeth's reaction to that particular lapse in judgement and decided then that no matter how unpopular it made her, it was a mistake that would not be repeated.

"I can't." Raven held up a placating hand, the other busy with the surfboard. "Look, I'm sorry but I just can't." The words left her mouth with conviction, yet Raven knew her answer might ultimately lead to her losing face. She stuffed the surfboard under her arm in an effort at concealing the slight unease that thought caused her.

"Can't or won't?" asked Gar. Raven was their only chance at getting into the adult area and actually getting away with it. He couldn't fathom why she wasn't doing this for them.

Raven dragged a hand down her face as they walked towards the wave pool. "It's not the Jedi way," she tried, but upon receiving incredulous looks from all of them, even Treena, she tried another approach. "If I do it and I'm caught, I'll get into a huge amount of trouble."

"Then don't get caught," piped up Fenn, who had thus far remained silent.

"Everyone leave her be. If she doesn't want to help us, that's up to Raven," said Treena, feeling a bit sorry for the girl.

"If you're really a Jedi," said Matti, ignoring Treena, "it would be easy for you to do this. I've seen it on the holo. They can do this mind control thing. Plus, they're supposed to help people! Maybe you've just made it all up."

Raven thought she had seen that coming and resisted the urge to sigh. It was Borleias all over again, but she would sooner thrust herself upon her saber than endure the consequences of making that mistake a second time. Eeth would kill her, and that was only if there were anything left to murder once Lakhri was done. The padawan wrinkled her nose trying to think of what to do. If this were Eeth, he'd probably continue to say no in some dignified manner, eventually ignoring the questions altogether. If it were Lakhri, he would probably make them feel like complete idiots for suggesting such a thing. Raven contemplated this for a moment before deciding on something in the middle. "Okay, I made it all up," she agreed, paddling out through the break with the others.

"Of course you didn't," said Ayisha, throwing Matti an annoyed look. "I believe you. Nobody could make all this stuff up."

"Look, could you just get one of us in?" asked Fenn. "Matti, for example. He's old enough to be taken for an adult once he's inside. You wouldn't need to go inside with him, and you wouldn't get any cocktails either. There would be no reason to blame you, would there?"

Fenn had a point, Raven couldn't deny that. Still, even as the idea played over in her head for the tenth time, the consequences had her grimacing. Then, quite unexpectedly, another feeling emerged. It was a sense of duty; Raven didn't actually want to do this, nor did she want to disappoint Eeth, she really didn't. She gave them a genuinely sad expression and shook her head. "I just can't. Anyway, I should probably get back," was added on quickly before anyone could ridicule or reject her. It was cowardly, she knew that.

"Raven, wait," called Treena, but it was too little too late. She disappeared so fast that they couldn't even track her movements. She turned a frown on the rest of her family. "Great move, you scared her away!"

* * *

Raven made her way back to the surfboard stand. The tip was dug into some fake sand and the leg strap secured it upright. She wanted to get back to their quarters where she could sulk, but Lakhri had told her to meet him back at the deckchairs so that was where she headed. When Raven arrived, Lakhri was still reading. He looked peaceful so she didn't disturb him and flopped into the empty chair, her eyes closed.

"Anything the matter?" asked Lakhri, his eyes not leaving the page.

"Not exactly," she said through a sigh. Raven pulled her legs up into her chest, her chin resting on her knees. She didn't particularly want to burden him with her woes and so said nothing more for the time being.

Lakhri, however, was a sensitive person and he could tell that something was bothering Raven. He finished reading the paragraph, put the datapad aside and sat up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, disinclined to lump him with this when he'd been so kind in bringing her here in the first place. However, when Lakhri threw his short legs over the deckchair so that he was facing her, she reconsidered that response and straightened a little in her chair. Lying to a Jedi master was never a good idea; lying to one who knew you so well was practically a suicide mission. Sighing, she dropped her gaze and dragged a hand down her face. "I met some kids who wanted me to get them into the adult's lounge. I didn't do it," she said, raising both hands before he could so much as frown.

Lakhri studied her downcast face for a moment. "Yeah, that tends to happen," he said kindly. "In fact, it happens a lot. And I fell for the temptation more than once because I wanted so badly to fit in and to impress them, since my stature certainly did not impress anyone. I'm glad you didn't do it. Do you regret it?"

Raven knew a bit about Lakhris padawanhood and the struggles he'd had. She gave him a knowing look and thought about his question. It was a good one, and something Raven had to think about. Eventually she shook her head and met his gaze. "I regret that they wanted to use me, that kinda hurt. I don't regret not going through with it, it's not the Jedi way, but people don't seem to get that. Besides, can you imagine Eeth's reaction to a repeat of the Borleias debacle?" Raven could, and she cringed.

"Unfortunately, I can," said Lakhri drily. "Going along with their idea certainly wouldn't have been worth the consequences. Nor the guilt trip. You made the right choice. That might not seem like such a big deal, especially when it means you had to let the other kids down, but it really is. It was the right decision, even though it was hard to make, and that's something to be proud of. I'm proud of you, in any case, and I'm sure Eeth will be proud of you as well."

Typically, receiving praise like that from Eeth or Lakhri would have Raven grinning. Today, when he told her that she had made the correct decision and done the right thing, a stab of guilt shot through her. Raven looked at her hands briefly as the memory of deceiving Eeth over their Senate assignment, and his near relapse, flashed to mind. Had his decline been her fault? It was possible, yes. And here Lakhri was saying how well she was doing, and how proud Eeth would be. She coughed once and put on a pleased expression. "Thanks." It was all Raven could think of to say.

Lakhri's expression told her that he had noticed her discomfort. "You don't look as if you're proud of yourself," he remarked. "Any particular reason for that?" At this point, he was not actually suspecting that she had done anything wrong; he assumed she was struggling with her relationship to her non-Jedi peers, as most Jedi teenagers did at some point. Still, he might be wrong, which was why he was asking this question.

Raven blew out a sigh. "I'm kinda not. Not really," she confessed.

"Why not?" asked Lakhri. "Does the other kids' reaction bother you?" It had bothered him, a lot, when he had been Raven's age!

"Yes, but that's not the only reason. Hey, can I ask you about something without you telling Eeth about it?"

Lakhri paused for a bit. "That depends a lot on what you're going to ask," he finally said. "I don't want a repeat of the death stick debacle, thank you very much." On their return from a mission to Larivan, he had found Raven in the company of the former crown prince of the planet, whom she had a crush on, and both of them intoxicated with death stick smoke. Raven had been so devastated and desperate that Lakhri had consented to keeping this from Eeth… who, when he had found out, had been angrier than Lakhri had ever seen him. Lakhri knew he had betrayed Eeth's trust, and he did not think it was possible to feel any guiltier than he had then! No, he definitely did not want a repeat of that.

"Force, don't remind me," said Raven, cringing at the memory. "But this is a different kind of trouble, it's nothing that will harm anyone if Eeth never finds out. The problem is that I'm feeling guilty about getting away with it because I feel like I could have been responsible, or partially responsible, for his decline in health. I really feel bad about that, and hearing you praise me over how proud Eeth and you are, well, it kinda dragged it up because I'm not really proud of myself."

Lakhri raised his eyebrows. "I don't really see how you could have caused that," he said. "He might have pushed himself too hard and not asked for help when he needed it, but that's his own fault, not yours. Anyway, what'd you do? And more importantly, how in the Force's name did you manage to get away with it? That's quite an achievement! – Not that I think that's a good thing," he added hastily.

Raven scrunched up her nose, but decided that she had gone this far so she might as well spill. "Worik got bitten by something when we went to the expo. His hand went orange and swelled into a mess. It wasn't painful or even a concern for his health, but because of how bad it looked, we came up with the idea that I might get out of our Senate obligations by telling Eeth that Worik wanted me to stay with him. We were in the healers' wing when I contacted him which meant there really was no way that he could suspect otherwise, so I got away with it. Problem is, the next day he was so exhausted from the previous day that he almost relapsed. I can't help but think that might be because I wasn't there during our assignment to, at the very least, bully him into doing something about his deteriorating condition. Maybe if I had been there, he wouldn't have worn himself out so much. And now?" Raven looked positively pained at the dilemma. "Now I'm stuck because for the first time in my life I actually got away with something, and I can't stand the guilt of having possibly been responsible for his condition."

Lakhri had listened attentively and without judgment. Force knew he had tried to get out of his many duties more than once as a teenager! He also knew all about the guilt; at heart, he was a conscientious person and found it hard to live with the knowledge that he had been in the wrong and not made up for it.

"I don't really think your actions made a big difference to Eeth's health," he told her truthfully. "Eeth wouldn't have pulled out of a Senate committee meeting unless he was actually dying, which he wasn't. You called the healers before his condition became critical, and that was soon enough. That said… Well, what you did was pretty irresponsible. You know what Eeth would think of it if he knew. Force, I know what I would think if a padawan of mine did this! So the question is, what would be worse? Not telling him and living with the guilt, or telling him and living with the inevitable consequences?"

"The inevitable consequences!" were Raven's initial thoughts. However, she stopped to consider that question for a long time before eventually giving a more honest answer. "I don't know. Probably living with the guilt in the long term, but in the short term it would definitely be the immediate consequences." She gave him a meaningful look and started counting off the transgressions on her fingers. "Disobeyed my orders, deceived him, LIED about all of it and took days to confess instead of owning up to it right away. You know that's going to be some seriously memorable punishment, and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to just leave it and see if it all blows over." What Raven didn't know was if her sense of integrity would allow that, or if Lakhri would feel obliged to tell Eeth if she decided against it.

"Well, you're correct in your assumption that Eeth would be mightily displeased if he heard of this," said Lakhri. "But he won't hear it from me. Whether I tell him or not is not going to make the slightest difference for anyone but you. So, I won't save you the effort of having to make a decision."

In fact, Lakhri was fairly certain that Raven would eventually come clean. If she was feeling guilty enough to confess to him, she would end up feeling guilty enough to confess to Eeth as well. It might take her a while longer but Lakhri thought he wouldn't do her a service if he ratted her out. That would deprive her of the only opportunity that was left to her to make the right decision about all this, and she'd just end up feeling even worse.

"Thanks, Lakhri." Raven wasn't sure if she was grateful for his confirmation that he would not rat her out, or disappointed that she was still stuck with the same problem. Her arms fell to her sides and she let herself fall back into the chair again, deep in thought. Several minutes passed, with Lakhri patiently waiting for her to sort out the things that were going through her mind, before she spoke again. "Lakhri? Did you ever get away with anything?"

"Yep, but rarely," said Lakhri. "Once, I played a prank on a teacher, together with two friends. It was pretty funny and we were never found out. If any of us had owned up, the other two would have been in trouble as well so we all kept our mouths shut. And, well, it wasn't that bad. He ended up having to change his robes because they were quite wet and pink. He wasn't the type to see the humour in it, of course, and neither was Eeth. The other time… I actually owned up later because I felt guilty. I was supposed to study astrophysics with a friend. I didn't really need to study but my friend did, and I knew it. Nevertheless, we goofed off. I still passed the exam with an excellent grade but he nearly failed and his master was really mad. Of course, he didn't tell on me but I felt so bad about having let him down that I confessed it to Eeth."

The prank didn't sound all that bad, although Raven was pretty sure Eeth wouldn't have approved had Lakhri confessed. The exam sounded a bit more serious, though. "When you confessed about the exam, was it worth it?" It was a difficult question to ask, but she thought he would understand it well enough. And Lakhri did.

"Yes, definitely," he said. "I think I actually got some bonus points for owning up of my own accord. I mean, it was still bad, but it could have been worse. And I felt relieved. I'm not very good at dealing with guilt, and I would probably have ended up feeling guilty for a long time. Besides…" He paused for a moment, searching for words that would make sense. "I think that every time you get away with making a wrong decision, it gets easier," he finally said. "I mean, like a morally wrong decision, not just breaking some silly rule. I assume you can get into the habit and then the feeling of guilt wears off. I didn't want that, though. I don't think I thought about it that way then, but I do now."

Raven understood what he was saying, but it was hard to put it into practice. "Apparently, I'm not very good at dealing with guilt either, but I'm just as bad at accepting the consequences," replied Raven, dragging a hand through her hair. What Lakhri said rang true, yet actually working up the courage to go through with it was another matter entirely.

"Yes, this is obviously a dilemma," Lakhri agreed sympathetically, "but it's one I can't and won't solve for you."

Given that Raven had done nothing more than ask for advice, she accepted his comment and closed her eyes. The opportunity to experience Liana's Resort and Water Park with Lakhri for an entire weekend was possibly a once-in-a-padawanhood event, and she wasn't about to waste it wallowing in self-pity. And Raven did not. She made the most of every second, sliding, riding, enjoying the floating outdoor cinemas and even racing Lakhri around on some of the obstacle courses. They were all designed for civilians, of course, so the huge rubber pads and mats just made it all the more fun for them.

By the time Lakhri dropped her back at her quarters late on Sunday afternoon, Raven was looking pleasantly exhausted. Her hair looked like a bird's nest but the smile on her face was unmistakable.

"Master," she greeted Eeth with a bow, tossing her pack aside. It contained some wet clothing and made a thudding sound as it hit the floor. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," said Eeth, smiling at her and giving Lakhri a brief and only slightly awkward hug. "I slept a lot. Healer Sopan has looked in on me this afternoon and pronounced herself satisfied with my condition. Thank you, Lakhri, for taking Raven out."

"It was a pleasure," said Lakhri with a grin. "We had a lot of – should I use the f-word?"

Raven chuckled, but put a hand over her mouth.

"Well, I am glad to hear it went well," said Eeth, his face unmoved.

"Yeah, it did," said Lakhri. "Apparently, Raven had a run-in with some teenagers who wanted to recruit her for a scheme involving alcohol, but she made the right choice. Maybe she should tell you this herself. I'm going to head back to my quarters. I need to prepare for tomorrow morning's classes."

"Of course," said Eeth. "May the Force be with you."

The mention of that event had Raven's smile dropping a little, yet she pushed it aside to hug and profusely thank her Jedi brother for taking her on what had to be the most fun she had ever had. The hug was for more than that, though, it was also for being there for her, and she knew he would know that. When eventually he pried her arms from around him and left, Raven turned to Eeth. "You do look better, you have more colour now." A hand raked through her hair in an effort at taming the frequently-washed-with-copper-neutralising-shampoo, yet never-conditioned mop. Her fingers snagged and she winced.

"Padawan, go and do something about your hair," Eeth said predictably. "And unpack your bag. After that, we will prepare dinner and you can tell me about your weekend."

Raven was happy to oblige him, and when she emerged some forty minutes later to find the table set and dinner waiting, her hair had been tamed, wet clothes dealt with and she was once again looking acceptable, by what she knew of Eeth's standards.

"So, you ran into some youths who wanted to exploit your skills, like on Borleias?" Eeth asked Raven as he ladled out stew.

Raven hadn't expected him to come out with that right away, and a tiny stab of guilt stuck her as she recalled the conversation with Lakhri that followed that event. She sighed and thanked him for the stew with a polite nod. "They wanted me to mind-whammy the guards so they could get some cocktails, of all things." She rolled her eyes, trying to make out like it hadn't actually hurt her feelings when they became annoyed with her refusal. "I didn't do it, though, so you can stow any ideas about pulling out slippers or the like." Raven gave him a slight smile to convey that she was trying to make light of the whole Borleias bonfire night debacle, and spooned some of her stew.

"I had no such ideas," Eeth said with dignity. "I am genuinely glad you are learning to make the right choices in such situations." She had not exactly fooled him over her feelings on the matter, though, so he gave her a scrutinizing look and asked, "Do you regret it?" He had no idea that Lakhri had asked the exact same thing.

"No, master, of course not. I didn't want to do it the first time either. I certainly wasn't going to make the same mistake again. I can't shrug off rejection like you seem to. It hurts," she confided in him.

Eeth nodded. He was not actually sure if he could shrug off rejection; he had simply never been in a comparable situation. His contacts to civilian teenagers had been extremely superficial and his behaviour had never encouraged anyone to ask for his help outside his mission assignments. In fact, he envied the ease with which Lakhri and Raven made friends. "You should be proud of yourself for learning from your mistakes," he said. "We will meditate on your feelings later. Did you enjoy your trip, apart from this episode?"

Raven's face heated a little at his praise, yet she accepted it with a humble nod and then proceeded to give him a blow-for-blow account of her two days of 'fun'.

That evening during meditation Raven did her best to rid herself of any ill ease that she was harbouring, so by the time Eeth came to tuck her in, she was beginning to think that allowing the whole Worik thing to blow over was probably the best way to go. It would only upset Eeth if he knew, and she would certainly feel upset, amongst other things!


	6. Chapter 6

Three days had passed since Lakhri and Raven had returned from their trip to Liana's Resort. Raven had begun classes again, and thanks to Eeth's near relapse, the Council had not given them other assignments. Still, Eeth kept his padawan busy; he would have hated to think of her idle and unproductive. So it was that on Wednesday afternoon after their classes, Raven found herself stretched out on their common room floor doing homework. Had this been but a few months ago, Raven might have protested the schedule, but given that she had flunked maths with disastrous consequences and had gotten away with lying to Eeth about Worik in order to get out of their Senate assignment, the padawan was unwilling to complain about anything lately.

When the door chime rang, Eeth went to get it.

"Hiya," said Lakhri, grinning up at him. "I'm finished with my work for today. I wanted to offer to take Raven to the gym. I know you're not allowed to have a sparring session with her, but I am."

"Thank you," said Eeth. "I had been planning to practice kata with her but this is a welcome offer. Raven, what do you think?"

"I think that Lakhri is my saviour! Thank you. I'd love to go." And with that Raven had abandoned her datapad, was in her bedroom and dressing before anyone got a word out. Sure, she loved doing kata with Eeth, but it was far from her favourite gym activity. When Raven emerged, she gave Lakhri a smile that was all teeth. The two had not seen each other since Lakhri had dropped her off last Sunday afternoon, after all.

"You are not getting out of your schoolwork, padawan," said Eeth mildly. "You will finish it after your return."

"I'll make sure to drop her off some time before dinner," Lakhri promised. "Come on, Raven. I've been teaching levitation and Huttese all day. I'm itching for some exercise."

Once they were in the corridor and making their way to the gym, he asked, "So, did you tell Eeth?"

Raven knew what Lakhri was referring to immediately. "No, not yet." She looked over at him with a slightly pained expression on her face and shoved both hands into her pockets. "The longer I've put it off, the worse I know it's going to be and the less courage I have to tell him about it." It was highly unlikely that Lakhri would be impressed with that answer; it was cowardly and Raven knew that. Still, it had been the truth.

Lakhri made to tell her that she was being stupid but he stopped himself. He had said that this was her decision to make and he was going to stick with that. Some lessons could not be forced on people, he believed, and having to live with one's choices was one of them. Therefore, he said nothing; he simply continued to walk towards the gym in silence.

Raven stared at him as they walked until it became obvious that Lakhri wasn't going to comment, and she looked down at the floor. She didn't know what was worse, having him call her on her actions or the silence! In any case, when they reached the gym, her gut was churning, and when they finished what was a pretty lacklustre effort on her behalf at sparring, she was not feeling any better.

Lakhri had a pretty clear idea of what she was feeling and it pained him. However, he knew that there was nothing he could or should do to help. She needed to make this step by herself. When he dropped her off at her doorstep, he merely squeezed her shoulder affectionately, gave her a brief smile of encouragement and left.

Raven stood outside the door to their quarters watching Lakhri's back until the man disappeared around the corner. It was taking all her self-restraint not to run after him and plead that he help her find a way out of this, but again, that was cowardly, not to mention it was entirely unlike Raven to be this afraid of owning her mistakes, yet afraid she was. No, Eeth would not actually kill her, but he might just make her wish he had. She stared at the door, took a deep breath and entered. Eeth was sitting on the couch, his eyes closed. Raven approached quietly, seating herself cross-legged on their coffee table opposite, waiting to be acknowledged.

Eeth emerged from his meditative trance a moment later, opened his eyes and smiled at Raven. "Padawan," he said. "How did your workout go?" She did not, he noticed at second glance, look as if it had gone all too well.

Raven's courage faltered, and there was a long silence before she finally spoke. "It was okay, I guess. You wouldn't have been satisfied with it, though. I-I might have some things on my mind that I should probably talk to you about." THERE, she had said it. Now it was just a case of getting out the rest. Yeah… "I'll be honest, I really don't want to talk to you about this because you're not going to be happy about any of it, but-" Raven squirmed, wrapping her arms about her legs. "I kind of have to. I can wait if you don't feel up to it. Maybe you need to rest some more?"

"No," said Eeth. "I am perfectly fine, padawan. Whatever it is you have to tell me, there is no excuse for procrastinating. At least none that I am willing to give you." He was not interested in spending tedious minutes on trying to drag it out of her, whatever it was that she had done: brought home a note from a teacher? Flunked a test?

She bit her lip and fisted wads of her trousers while perched on their coffee table, all the while trying to work up the courage to confess. It wasn't easy! Eeth was not exactly the most forgiving of Jedi masters, and Raven knew what to expect for this level of misdeed. "I might have done something that you didn't, well, find out about," she began, her eyes flicking up from her hands to meet his gaze and judge the level of his displeasure, or would it be surprise? Raven wasn't sure.

Eeth's gaze was impassive but that was only because he was so good at shielding his emotions. He prided himself on always finding out. Well, almost always. It seemed as if he was about to hear about one of the very few exceptions.

"And what is it that you have done, padawan?" he inquired, honestly curious.

By now Raven's hands were sweating, and she continued to grip at her pant leg. It took her a while, possibly several minutes, to get out the start of her tale. She explained how they had gone to the expo and how Worik really had been bitten by something and how bad his hand had looked. "It might not have been quite as bad as I made out, though," she finally confessed. "I might have embellished it in order to get out of our Senate meeting that day."

As usual, Eeth grasped her meaning rather quickly. "Do you mean to say," he asked in a dangerously low voice, "that you deceived me in order to receive permission to stay with your friend, rather than do your duty?"

"Yes, master." Raven wished that she had another answer to give him, but there wasn't one. Her gaze dropped to her hands once again. "I don't have any excuse. I wanted to get out of the Senate assignment and I knew that the chances of you finding out were virtually zero. I feel bad about deceiving you, about the fact that you almost relapsed and were pulled off the assignment. I was going to tell you what I did, but each day I waited, the worse I knew you were going to take this and the less courage I had to tell you." Raven stopped short of apologising at this point, knowing that it would probably seem superficial in light of everything else.

Eeth was silent for a long moment. He had to admit that he had not seen this coming, and that shocked him. How many other things were there that his padawan got past him? Well, probably not that many, he reasoned; after all, Raven had told him about this one because she felt bad about it which meant that she had not yet got into the habit of hiding things from him. And he would make sure she thought twice before she did it again!

"Very well, padawan," he said in a level tone of voice. "You deceived me and you shirked your duty. Incidentally, you lied to me when I asked you about your day. And you took several days – six, I think – to come clean. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

At this point, Raven was starting to regret having owned up. She wasn't afraid of Eeth per se; she was, however, afraid of the punishment he might give out, especially so as he made note of each transgression, all of which were of the sort that Raven would expect serious punishment for on their own. The padawan shifted uncomfortably on the coffee table, forcing herself to meet his eye. "Just that I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done it and it won't ever happen again, I swear it," she got out, her tone taking on a slightly desperate edge.

"Yes, I will do my best to make sure of that," said Eeth drily. "Just for the record: if you had not owned up and I had found out about this some other way, I would have considered it a case for the cane." While the punishment he was going to mete out would be guaranteed to leave an impression, he wanted Raven to know that it could have been worse. He wanted to reward her honesty, to a certain extent. But that did not mean she was going to escape with her bottom unscathed, as was clear from the expression on his face when he rose and beckoned for her to do the same.

The colour drained from Raven's face at the mention of how close she had come to receiving his cane. During her apprenticeship, Raven had developed a healthy respect for that particular implement and she would do just about anything to avoid it. She stood as he gestured, scrubbing both palms down her pant leg and looking slightly fretful. "Master," she said quietly, anticipating his next order. "You don't have to do this now, you look tired." It was true, too, he did look tired, although Raven's concerns were not only for him, they were also an effort at postponing whatever horrors he had planned.

"I might," said Eeth stoically, "but I will still 'do this now.' There will be plenty of opportunity for me to rest after you have taken your punishment, which will be followed by a lengthy meditation on why, exactly, it is a bad idea to deceive your master in order to escape your duties."

Raven's gaze lowered once again. She had to shove her hands in her pockets to keep from fidgeting, but it was obvious that she was nervous, afraid even. Still, she had pulled herself together as well as could be expected for a twelve-year-old about to face off against Eeth.

Eeth pondered his options briefly. Then he said, "Go to the cupboard and bring me the large strap." He had promised not to use the cane but that did not mean the punishment would be a light one!

Resigned, Raven turned on her heel and did as told. It wasn't until she had the horrid thing in her hand and was heading back that her courage once again faltered. "I did tell you," she felt compelled to remind him as she held out the strap for him to take.

"Which is why I did not ask you to bring me the cane," replied Eeth, unmoved. "Bare your bottom and bend over." He accepted the strap and nodded with his chin towards the table.

It took Raven quite a bit of self-control not to start arguing that point; Eeth might have skipped his cupboard altogether, for instance. Raven didn't, though, and instead dragged her feet towards the table, slid out a chair and pulled her trousers and underpants to her knees. Actually bending over was harder, it always was! Besides, Jedi or not, it was hard to be brave when your master was about to whale on your ass with the strap from hell. This was going to hurt. A lot.

Eeth hung the strap across the back of a chair, swatted Raven's bottom with his hand three times and ordered, "Tell me what you are receiving this punishment for." He did not do this often, but given that her misdeed had been six days ago, he thought it best to leave no room for ambiguity.

Raven had been bracing herself to feel the strap, so when Eeth's hand landed instead, it took her by surprise. Sure, it still fucking hurt and had her hissing, but it wasn't the anticipated showdown. This also meant that whatever he gave her now was just a preamble, which was a humbling thought, and so she started talking fast. "Because I deceived you, lied about it, and then kept it from you for an extended period of time," came out in a rush.

"And besides all that, you neglected your duty," Eeth pointed out. "Which is entirely unacceptable." He raised his hand again and started spanking her hard and fast.

"Ah! Yes, I neglected my duteeeee!" But that was all the begging and pleading Raven was going to get out, as Eeth's hand felt like a damned board! She did consider herself fortunate that he chose not to use his paddle instead, as that would have been worse. Not by much, but worse all the same. Raven also knew that he rarely stopped before she had, at the very least, started sniffling. Of course, being a padawan of considerable ingenuity, she had once dissolved into crocodile tears, hoping that this would make him stop. The problem with that tactic was that Eeth had somehow sensed her act which had resulted in a few swats that were so hard that Raven honestly thought she was going to stop breathing. Yeah, she had only tried that once, never again. Thus, Raven "Owwed!" and "AhHHed!" her way through as many as she could before her position began shifting and her eyes filled with tears.

At this point, Raven was nowhere near where Eeth had wanted her to be. It was true that he had a large and hard hand and was very strong, which was why he could make a hand spanking hurt quite a bit. Right now, however, he realised that his strength and endurance were considerably lower than they had been before his illness. Much to his discontent, he had to concede that his arm was feeling the strain. Therefore, a lot sooner than he would ordinarily have done, he reached for the strap, raised it high and brought it down across his padawan's upturned bottom smartly.

"YeooWwwchh!" screeched Raven in response. That had really fucking hurt and it showed in the way her body twisted, toes curled and the death grip she now had on the far edge of the table, fingers tightened until her knuckles went white. Somehow, the padawan managed to keep her chest down and hands away for the first half dozen, but by that stage the pain had built up to a point where it was almost unbearable. Raven had taken a full dozen with Eeth's paddle without making a scene when she and Eeth had first met, so she was well able to withstand pain while maintaining her dignity. The problem was that this strap was broad and thick; each lick almost covered her entire backside, and the pain it produced was enough to have her almost seeing stars. She was not going to last much longer, and she knew that. Her only hope at maintaining composure was that Eeth stopped. "Masterrr! N-nomorepleeeeeeease!" she begged him, swiping at her eyes with her shoulder in an effort at hiding her tears.

Eeth, however, was certainly not going to stop after a mere half dozen licks, not for a transgression of this order.

"Cry out all you like, but stay in position and accept your punishment," he ordered sharply, administering another stroke across the lowest part of Raven's bottom. "You have thoroughly earned it."

This had Raven rising up on her toes, her back arching. She wailed, one hand leaving the far edge of the table and flying to grip the edge closest to her hips. "Wait!" she tried, but was rewarded with yet another swat, this one reducing her to sobs. Raven knew this was deserved, but Force, if it wasn't hard to see it that way when she was in this position!

Entirely unperturbed by Raven's wails, Eeth continued his assault on her bottom. He dealt out another four swats and then hesitated for a moment. Normally, he would have stopped here; but then, the handspanking he had meted out had been considerably shorter than it ordinarily would have been, due to his weakened state. He thought he should make up for that.

Coming to a decision, he said, "Two more, padawan," and raised the strap again.

Despite having lost her mental count at around swat nine or ten, Raven knew that when he paused, he must have given her the dozen. It had to be! It sure as hell felt like he had in any case, because her ass felt like the surface of Mustafar. So, as one would expect, hearing that there were two more coming did not go over well. She fell limp onto the tabletop and started to cry in earnest, the pleading now unintelligible. She twisted her hips, unwittingly angling her backside away from him, her hands white from gripping the table and her face a hot mess. It was official, Raven was never going to deceive Eeth ever again, not as long as she lived!

The last two licks were aimed at the crease where Raven's bottom met her thighs, and Eeth put much of his weight behind them. They were designed to leave an impression that Raven would not soon forget. When that was done, he again hung the strap across the back of a chair and waited until Raven stopped wailing, which did not happen any time soon. She did, however, spring to her feet, both hands flying back to clench at her backside. The skin there felt scorched, like the ache, burn and sting was never going to subside! Not caring that she was perhaps not taking this as well as Eeth might expect from her, Raven kept at the bouncing around, rubbing furiously as tears continued streaking her face.

Eeth produced a handkerchief from his pocket and waited for her to stop hopping around. When that failed to happen, he rested a hand on her shoulder, effectively forcing her to stand still.

"Clean yourself up," he said firmly, handing her the handkerchief, "and meditate on what you did wrong and why you did it. I will want to hear some insights when you are done."

The handkerchief was swiped across her eyes, beneath her nose, and then she used it to blow. Raven was not happy with Eeth for being so hard on her, and so she kicked off her trousers, pulled up her underwear and went to her mat without comment.

To say that the task was arduous was a gross understatement. It took Raven quite some time to reach an acceptable state in which to meditate, and even then, it was difficult to maintain her focus. Raven did her best, though. Meanwhile, Eeth used the time to rest because, much to his dismay, dealing out this punishment had been physically demanding on him. He lay on the couch, closed his eyes and tried to ignore Raven's fidgeting. After all, the important thing was that she did as told. He hoped that this would help her gain a deeper understanding of why her behaviour had been wrong – before they got to the rest of her punishment…

"Come here, padawan," Eeth said when the hour was up, beckoning her to where he sat on the couch. "I would like to know whether you have had any thoughts about what, exactly, motivated you to act like you did and what you need to change in order to avoid a repeat occurrence."

Raven knelt by his side, lowered her gaze guiltily and winced as her backside connected with her heels. Eeth had done a thorough job and she wasn't going to be sitting any time soon, that much was certain. "I guess I didn't have the right attitude towards my duty." She wrinkled her nose. "I didn't want to do our assignment because it sucked, but that's probably not a good reason to deceive you."

"No, it is not," said Eeth sternly. "What kind of attitude did you have, then?"

"A bad one," Raven replied.

Eeth frowned. "I do not doubt that," he said coolly, "but I was expecting a more specific answer."

Raven sighed. She hated it when he made her spell out her failures like this, it was humiliating. "I showed a lack of commitment towards our assignment because it wasn't to my liking."

"So you did," said Eeth. "That was irresponsible, immature and childish. Now, I realise that you are technically a child. However, as a Jedi padawan, you cannot afford the luxury of neglecting your responsibilities and waiting for the adults to take care of them. What will you do to change your attitude?"

At this point Raven just wished the floor would open up and swallow her! Her face burned almost as hot as her backside. "I'll do better. I will give my full attention to all my duties, not just those that interest me."

"Yes, you will, at least if I have any say in it," said Eeth grimly. "We will try this again during the next term break. And until then, you will perform half an hour of additional meditation every day, after lunch, on your attitude towards duty."

"Every day? But master, please, can you reconsider? I hardly have any free time as it is," Raven complained, looking up at him for the first time since this conversation had begun. She stopped short of pointing out that she had already been punished enough, if only because that argument had never worked in her favour before.

"No, I will not reconsider," said Eeth flatly, drawing a wilting look from his padawan. "You need an attitude change and I am not convinced that physical discipline is sufficient to achieve that."

Raven just looked at him. Since when had his physical discipline not been sufficient! She held her tongue, though.

"Now, there is one last thing I would like to address," said Eeth. "And that is the fact that it took you six days to come clean. When did it first occur to you that it would be a good idea to tell me?"

Expression still slightly shocked from his earlier edict, Raven wondered if telling him the truth here was going to make things worse. She eyed him for a moment, and then looked back down at her hands and mumbled, "I don't know."

Eeth did not buy that for a second and it showed in the expression on his face, not that Raven could see it. "You do," he snapped. "Tell me."

Raven's head whipped up at his snappy tone, and her nose wrinkled. "I don't know," she repeated, this time with a bit more exasperation in her voice. "Probably the next day when I realised that you came close to relapsing. I felt bad about that. And then, I started to feel guilty because I got away with it. I talked to Lakhri when we went to the water park, and he said that getting away with doing the wrong thing can be dangerous because it might become a habit. I don't want to make a habit out of deceiving you… Besides, among other things, it's far too painful."

"While these are commendable insights," said Eeth, "it apparently still took you at least three or four days after having had these insights to act on them. Honesty was obviously not the only option you pondered. I do not want you to get into the habit of deceiving me but neither do I want to give you the impression that it is acceptable to postpone being honest with me. If you do that, your punishment will always be worse than if you had owned up right away. Therefore, you will receive another spanking tomorrow after dinner."

"Aw, no! You already whaled the ass off of me with the strap from hell, AND I have to do a tonne of extra meditations. Please, master… C'mon. Be reasonable about this." Raven knew that this approach never worked, but she simply couldn't stop herself from protesting.

"Do you want to make it two additional spankings?" Eeth asked icily. "Then by all means keep complaining."

Raven pursed her lips, and then they pulled into a thin line. Having to go through one was bad enough, but two? Pff, that was not happening. Thus, the padawan said nothing more, folded her arms and glared at the floor.

"Padawan," Eeth said, a wealth of warning in his voice, "lose the attitude. Now. You deserve your punishment, and if you cannot accept that, it will only be worse."

Raven sighed, her arms dropping to her sides in defeat. It was true that she was possibly failing to accept Eeth's edict with the good grace expected of her, but well, Force; it was bad enough having to endure the sentence, let alone not be allowed to complain! "Yes, master," she replied, unwilling to add to her woes. Raven relaxed her glare although she did keep her gaze fixed on the floor.

Eeth rested a hand on her shoulder. "Padawan," he said much more gently, "I know you feel hard done-by. But you did the right thing. Believe it or not, I am proud of you for owning up to your deception and accepting the consequences, even belatedly."

Raven looked surprised by this, yet she stopped short of asking him why; if he was proud of her, then why was he being so hard on her?

Eeth decided to let the matter rest. Raven was going to perform more than enough meditations during the next weeks, after all, which might help her to better understand things. "I am afraid that I am not up to performing Force-aided healing yet but you may serve yourself to some bacta if you would like to," he said.

"I would like to," came the predictable response, and Raven stood, rubbing at her knees as she rose. Her ass hurt, her knees hurt, she just hurt everywhere.

Eeth's refresher was as neat and orderly as it always was and so it was easy for her to find things. A minute later, Raven was on her bed, tummy down, strangling the life out of that tube. It stung a bit at first but nothing like the initial showdown.

Eeth, in the meanwhile, lay back on the couch and closed his eyes. He still needed all the rest he could get, much as he despised it.

After about half an hour had passed, he sent a mental summons through their bond. They were not yet able to communicate with any degree of precision at this point, but transmitting emotions, warnings and summons – and the occasional stern rebuke – worked reliably.

When Raven exited her bedroom, she was no longer annoyed at Eeth's decision to spank her again tomorrow, or over the fact that he was not even allowing her to complain about it. It was actually a fair punishment considering the transgression, she had eventually conceded while tending to her ass, even if it was one that Raven really didn't want. Resigned, she stood in front of where he sat on the couch, arms by her sides and no trace of her earlier resentment or frustrations remained on her face.

Eeth motioned for her to sit next to him.

"Have you learned anything from all this, padawan?" he asked.

Raven thought about that for a moment, and then she inclined her head. "Well, yes, master, I have," she told him and then met him with a cheeky expression. "But have you?" It was a bit impertinent of her, yet given that he had let himself become run-down to the point where he almost relapsed, she rather thought it was not just her who had learned a lesson in self-restraint.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "As a matter of fact, I have," he said in a mildly reproving tone of voice. "But I was talking about you, not me. So let me rephrase my question: _What_ have you learned from all this?"

"Must you make a lesson out of everything?" The question was rhetorical but Eeth felt compelled to reply to it anyway.

"Padawan, everything _is _a lesson," he said sternly. "As you correctly surmised, it was one for me, and I learned it. The more important question is, did you?" The look on his face suggested that she had better give a proper answer now.

"Well, yes." Raven sighed, knowing that to do anything other than answer him at this point was going to end badly. Besides, it wasn't worth it, not over something as trivial as her smarting pride. "I learned that trying to shirk my duties is not acceptable, failing to confess immediately earns a worse punishment, and…" Raven gave him a pained expression. "It is not conducive to my goal of knighthood to be deceitful, lie or to attempt swindling you out of my responsibilities."

"Correct," said Eeth. "I want you to become a Jedi knight. As always, failure is not among my objectives. Which is why I was so hard on you."

Raven shifted slightly on the couch because, and despite the bacta, she was still able to feel the level of his disapproval. Her gaze lowered momentarily, and then she met him with a sincere expression. "I know," she said, trying not to fidget. "And … thank you. I do appreciate that you take the time to correct me, even if I don't like it." That fact had been hard for Raven to admit to herself, let alone vocalise to Eeth. The skin beneath her eyes coloured ever so slightly, but she held his gaze.

That statement left Eeth speechless, which was a rare occurrence indeed. After a while, he shifted closer to Raven and put his arm around her shoulder. It had not come naturally to him, but he had learned that gestures sometimes said more than words.

Raven smiled, touched by the gesture, and leant her head into his chest. She did not linger here, though, knowing that this sort of thing made Eeth uncomfortable. Thus, after a few seconds, she lifted her head, but remained close. She had learned a lot more from their last two assignments than she had ever thought possible. But then, such was often the case.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for sticking with us until this point! If you did, we'd love it if you left a review. Please stay tuned for the next installment, Out in the Wild, which will lead Eeth and Raven on an interesting mission, together with two brand-new characters. :)


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